On July 1, 2012, an important change was made to the Workers Compensation Act in British Columbia. The Workers Compensation Board now accepts claims from workers for compensation for diagnosed mental disorders that are predominantly caused by a traumatic event or significant work-related stressor (or continuing stressor events) including bullying or harassment arising out of or in the course of the worker’s employment. What does this mean for workers and, perhaps more importantly, for employers?
Workers who can show that they meet the requirements set out in the Act can now be compensated for what amounts to a “mental injury” in the same way as if they had suffered a visible physical injury at work. Employers who have not prepared and implemented policies or programs to address ever increasing incidents of bullying in the workplace may be faced with the prospect of, among other things, having to pay a levy from the Board amounting to all or part of the amount of compensation payable to the worker. For smaller businesses, this could be a real financial hit.
If you are a small or medium-sized business, and you do not yet have even a basic policy or program in place to deal with workplace bullying or harassment, contact us. We can help.
