What is a psychological workplace injury and how does the Workers Compensation Board (WCB) address this type of injury? First, just a reminder that WCB is an employer-funded insurance program that provides compensation to injured workers impacted by a workplace or work-related injury. Psychological injury does not include non-traumatic events or experiences that produce mental stress or cause some level of anxiety, so to clarify, we are not discussing general mental health issues in the workplace. Nor are we referring to what might be called a normal degree of friction in the employer-employee relationship that may accompany discipline, a demotion, a transfer or some other change in the work environment that annoys, angers or stresses-out the worker (unless of course, these actions could be deemed abusive).
According to policy 44.05.30 Adjudication of Psychological Injury Claims, WCB can compensate for injuries caused by chance events, a wilful and intentional act, or those considered an occupational disease. To flesh out, the psychological injuries that may be compensated by WCB include:
- A chance event with either a physical or natural cause (eg. collapsing buildings, collisions, natural disasters, etc.).
- A willful and intentional act directed to the worker by someone else (eg. violence, riots, robbery, threats and harassment). A claim for bullying or harassment may involve a single event or a series of events over time. Harassment refers to “objectionable conduct that creates a risk to the health of a worker or severe conduct that adversely affects a worker’s psychological or physical well-being.” The WCB considers bullying to mean “conduct that is intended to, or should reasonably have been known would, intimidate, demean or humiliate, or isolate an individual or result in an individual’s loss of dignity.” More often than not, bullying is associated with a real or perceived imbalance in power/authority between those involved.
- An acute reaction to a traumatic event, cumulative trauma and PTSD. Trauma is an emotional response to a horrific event, such as a terrible accident, assault or natural disaster. Symptoms associated with psychological trauma may surface almost immediately or may be latent in individuals for weeks, months even years.
- The Act includes a legislative presumption that workers professionally diagnosed with PTSD (by a psychologist or physician) have been exposed to occupational trauma when certain criteria are met. PTSD may be considered an occupational disease.
- Excessive Workload (over a prolonged period of time or unusual intensity). There would be considerable onus placed on the employee to provide evidence of excess time, pressure and tensions compared to that experienced in normal employment associated with a particular role/position.
The Manitoba Government and General Employees Union (MGEU), in their Healthy Minds at Work campaign, make the following recommendations for employees who believe they have been psychologically injured as a result of their work:
First, report or document the incident or experience and ask your supervisor or employer to sign/authenticate the document and ensure that you keep a copy for yourself. The Workers Compensation Act allows 30 days to report injuries to employers, but in the case of psychological injury, symptoms may take considerable time to appear. Ultimately, it is never too late to report these types of injuries. During a WCB investigation, the late recognition of symptoms might be validated, so don’t let the passage of time dissuade you from filing an injury report.
Seek medical assistance to help you manage/reduce physical symptoms and find a psychologist or psychiatrist you trust to have your particular psychological condition/injury assessed and documented for WCB. Finally, report your injury to the WCB. There are several ways you can do this: call 204-954-4321 / 1-855-954-4321 and speak with a representative or complete the online Worker Incident Report located on their website at https://www.wcb.mb.ca. Alternatively, you can download the online form and either fax or mail it to WCB (details available on website).
An adjudicator at the WCB will be responsible for conducting a thorough investigation of your situation and determining whether your claim is accepted, and if so, what sort of compensation you are entitled to receive.
