Labour seeks law on psychological injuries in workplace

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This article was published 08/05/2023 (886 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE Manitoba government has been accused of falling short when it comes to protecting workers from psychological injuries.

While psychological injuries caused by prolonged excessive workload is now recognized as a workplace injury, the Manitoba Federation of Labour wants the provincial government to do more.

The Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba expanded compensation coverage on May 1 for excessive workload, as long as it is for a prolonged period of time and is not what would be considered daily pressure in the job.

The WCB is making it clear the change is not due to the provincial government changing legislation, but by changing its policy to recognize that, in certain cases, prolonged excessive workload can be “a traumatic event.”

Kevin Rebeck, president of the Manitoba Federation of Labour, which has been pushing for the province to expand WCB coverage to include mental health injuries, said while he is pleased to see the change, he says much more needs to be done.

“We’ve said the law itself needs to change,” Rebeck said.

“I thought the WCB was supposed to help Manitobans who were injured on the job. But extreme stress, toxic workplaces, and burnout are not covered… there are thousands of ways you can suffer a traumatic injury on the job, but they are not covering them.”

Rebeck said Ontario and British Columbia have added these types of injuries to ensure workers are compensated whether they are hurt by ongoing workplace stress or an acute event.

“If you are physically injured at work, you will get compensation, but with mental health injuries we are still not there,” he said.

“The WCB is starting to respond, but they’re doing it with policy. The real fix will be changing the law and that’s government.”

A spokeswoman for Labour Minister Jon Reyes said the government “is committed to the physical and psychological well-being of all employees in Manitoba.

“Together with the Workers Compensation Board and SAFE Work Manitoba, we partner with employers across the province to raise awareness and prevent workplace injuries. Manitoba has always been a leader in workers compensation coverage for psychological injuries. The Workers Compensation Board is taking an incremental approach to this issue as it monitors developments in other jurisdictions.”

A WCB spokeswoman said it “has taken a responsible and incremental approach to coverage for psychological injuries in the workplace.

“We continue to monitor developments in other jurisdictions and will make changes to our policy as appropriate. With this most recent policy change, we are now well aligned with other Canadian jurisdictions. Legislative changes are within government’s purview.”

On its website, the WCB says that in order to be classified as a traumatic event, the workload would have to be deemed “excessive in nature, occur over a lengthy period of time, and be unusual in comparison to the pressures and tensions experienced in normal employment.

“In other words, the workload must be the type of workload that is significantly beyond the scope of maintaining employment from a reasonable person’s perspective.”

The WCB said daily pressures of work and life, as well as everyday workplace acts including discipline, transfers, and demotions, are not considered accidents under the law.

The WCB will also consider whether the workload was “unavoidable and unforeseen” and if the employer had “attempted to mitigate the prolonged duration.”

As well, the WCB would consider the workload from the viewpoint of a “reasonable person” to determine if they were in the same position as the worker, would they have suffered a psychological injury.

The WCB also said previous injuries are ineligible.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca