Labour pushes for enhanced WCB mental health coverage

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This article was published 09/12/2022 (1042 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba Federation of Labour is pushing the provincial government to expand Workers Compensation Board coverage of mental health injuries on the job.

Kevin Rebeck, president of the MFL, said while the WCB covers certain mental health injuries (including workplace harassment and traumatic events), it doesn’t cover every such situation that could leave a worker unable to work.

“The WCB does not cover mental health injuries caused by extreme stress, burnout or toxic workplaces,” Rebeck said Friday.

“We want the government to make the changes. At the end of the day, this doesn’t cost the government a dime. Employers pay to WCB because it insulates them from being sued.”

Rebeck pointed to a Probe Research poll the MFL commissioned showing 70 per cent of 1,000 Manitobans questioned either support strongly or somewhat agree to having the WCB do more to support workers suffering from workplace mental health injuries.

Ten per cent strongly disagreed it should be done, while 11 per cent somewhat disagreed. The remaining eight per cent neither agreed or disagreed.

Ontario and British Columbia have already made changes to ensure workers are supported whether or not their injuries came from an acute event or ongoing workplace stress, Rebeck said.

“We are behind the times here,” he said. “If you get hurt on the job, the WCB should be there to support you in your recovery… Right now, the WCB does not treat workplace mental health injuries the same way it treats physical injuries suffered on the job — and that’s just not fair.”

Kyle Ross, president of the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union, agreed new legislation is needed.

“In corrections, for example, we have seen many of our officers’ psychological injury claims accepted, but they could point to a traumatic event while working that brought on the injury,” Ross said in a statement.

Earlier this year, MGEU, using data it collected through freedom of information requests, found while the WCB had accepted there were 39 correctional officers in 2018 who had suffered psychological injuries, and another 44 in 2019, that jumped to 83 in both 2020 and 2021.

The data also meant while corrections officers make up only 0.42 per cent of Manitoba’s workforce, they accounted for 20.6 per cent of all psychological injuries.

However, Ross said there are other correctional officers — and workers in general — that were injured but not covered under current WCB rules.

“It’s difficult… to show that chronic understaffing, excessive workloads, hostile work environments and an accumulation of occupational stressors can really take a toll on one’s mental health,” he said. “For that reason, we need action from the government on workers mental health.”

Rebeck said the MFL will be launching a public awareness campaign to put added pressure on the Stefanson government to make the proposed changes.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca