Work-related mental stress injuries

What is work-related mental stress?

Sometimes work can be stressful, but when that stress contributes to a mental stress injury, you may need more support to recover. A work-related mental stress injury is a psychological injury or illness caused by one or more substantial sources of stress at a person’s work or by one or more work-related traumatic events.

How we can help

You may be eligible for support from the WSIB if you have experienced a mental stress injury that can be shown to have resulted either from a traumatic incident or series of incidents at work that are substantial stressors.

When you make a claim for a mental stress injury, we’ll work with you, your health care provider and your employer to get the information we need to know if your situation qualifies for our benefits and services. We generally cannot cover mental stress caused by an employer’s management decisions or actions, such as termination, transfer, changes in working hours and/or in changes in productivity expectations.

If your situation qualifies, the benefits we provide to treat work-related mental stress injuries may include psychological assessment and treatment, prescription medications, wage replacement, or return-to-work services. You will not be able to access benefits or services unless and until your claim is allowed.

How to know whether to submit a claim

By considering whether your experience meets our requirements for benefits, you can save time and find the right course of action and support sooner. If your situation doesn’t qualify for support from the WSIB, there are other places you can get support.

Mental stress injuries that may be eligible for benefits and services

People who have work-related mental stress injuries may be entitled to WSIB benefits and services. 

To be eligible for benefits and services, your mental stress injury must have been experienced at work, and you must have been diagnosed by a qualified health professional (family doctor, nurse practitioner, psychologist or psychiatrist) as having a mental stress injury listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM–5). 

We base our decisions on requirements in the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act and policy relating specifically to the cause of your mental stress injury – whether a one-time traumatic event, multiple traumatic exposures or substantial work-related stressors, such as 

• being subjected to harassment, which is any behaviour that someone knows or can be reasonably expected to know is not welcome, such as unwanted sexual comments or advances, persistent following or invasion of physical space 
• being subjected to bullying, a common form of harassment that includes behaviour such as intimidation, malicious rumours, gossip, or innuendo, social isolation or, coercion, humiliation, persistent insults, slurs and/or derogatory names 
• working in a job that is highly stressful by nature, such as one that carries responsibility over matters involving life and death, and/or that involves routine work in extremely dangerous circumstance 
• witnessing a fatality or a horrific accident 
• witnessing or being subjected to an armed robbery 
• witnessing or being subjected to a hostage-taking 
• being subjected to physical violence 
• receiving death threats, or threats of physical violence, such as bomb threats or being confronted with a weapon 
• being subjected to harassment that includes physical violence or threats of physical violence, such as the escalation of verbal abuse into traumatic physical abuse
• being put in a life-threatening or potentially life-threatening situation, such as by someone tampering with safety equipment or causing you to do something dangerous 
• being exposed to multiple traumatic events in the course of work over time  

Examples of mental stress at work

We can provide benefits for mental stress that can be shown to have resulted from one or more substantial sources of work-related stress or a reaction to one or more traumatic work-related events. 

Here are some examples of work-related mental stress injuries that would be considered for benefits and services.

• A teacher is regularly subjected to demeaning comments from her vice-principal, quite often in front of her teaching colleagues and develops an anxiety disorder as a result. If this situation resembles yours, you could be considered for benefits and services.
• A housekeeping attendant is regularly subjected to inappropriate and harassing comments from several co-workers. He attempts to confront his co-workers but the harassment continues and in fact increases, and he develops a depression disorder as a result. If this situation resembles yours, you could be considered for benefits and services.
• A paramedic is called to the scene of a fatal multiple car accident and afterward suffers recurrent nightmares and flashbacks for a prolonged period. If this situation resembles yours, you could be considered for benefits and services.

We generally cannot provide benefits or services for mental stress caused by an employer’s management decisions or actions, such as termination, transfer, changes in working hours and/or in changes in productivity expectations. We are also unable to provide benefits or services for stress caused by normal workplace interpersonal conflict or discord such as arguments and disagreements, unless it is malicious, abusive or amounts to harassment, including bullying.

If your mental stress is caused by your employer’s decisions or actions related to your employment, you will not likely be eligible for benefits, and you may want to look for other resources that may be available to support you. 

Here are examples of mental stress injuries that would not likely be covered because they followed an employer’s decision or action:

• A grocery clerk experiences anxiety after his employer changes his shift schedule. 
• A forklift driver has been seen numerous times violating company safety rules. Her employer eventually suspends her without pay for continued safety violations, and she experiences stress because of the effects on her income and reputation. 
• An employer repeatedly extends a probationary account representative's contract and makes no offer of permanent employment, causing the account representative to feel stressed and uneasy about his long-term employment prospects. 
• A warehouse employee whose work hours have been reduced due to lower demand feels anxiety about her decreased income.