'The expansion of this coverage is to provide support to those workers who require it'
The expansion of the Workers Compensation Board (WCB) of Prince Edward Island will begin accepting claims for psychological injuries caused by workplace harassment and bullying starting in 2025.
"Inappropriate behaviour in the workplace, gossip, spreading rumours, discrimination of any kind — there are a number of different things that happened in the workplace that could constitute harassment," says Allison Wyatt, the WCB's director of claims and compensation, according to a CBC report.
"We know that work-related harassment and bullying is a work issue throughout P.E.I., throughout other provinces, and the expansion of this coverage is to provide support to those workers who require it."
Compensation could include back pay for time lost away from work or coverage for medical help, she said.
The P.E.I. government announced the change earlier this year. It will take effect Jan. 1, 2025 and comes after a public consultation in February.
Previously, an arbitrator ruled that a British Columbia worker who suffered a mental injury following a physical altercation between two owners was subject to harassment that wasn’t properly investigated.
Why are people scared to report psychological harassment?
The change in P.E.I. is a welcome development, says Jeff Morley, a psychologist based in B.C. who specializes in workplace psychological injuries.
Among his clients – who are first responders – trauma and conflict within the office is what “brings most first responders in”.
These include “being harassed, being bullied, being shamed in the meeting, being stabbed in the back, having their work sabotaged,” he told the CBC.
However, one challenge that the coverage for psychological injury in P.E.I. will face is people’s reluctance to come forward.
"It comes with risks. I think people fear retribution. 'Do I have faith that anything will come from it? Will anyone believe me?' They may feel: 'I don't have power in this situation where my bosses have all the power’,” he tells CBC.
"So I think it takes a lot of courage and skill to sort of navigate these situations, to come forward when we need to make a claim."
Recently, a former employee of Scouts Canada filed a $2.1-million lawsuit against the organization, alleging that his role in its safe scouting department caused him to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression.
Having experienced traumatic events in their life is a factor affecting many Canadians’ ability to work, finds a previous Statistics Canada (StatCan) report. Overall, 63 per cent of adults living in Canada say they have been exposed to a potentially traumatic event at some point in their lives. However, many workers are hesitant to report harassment and any uncomfortable incident in the workplace, and the stigma of speaking up is the top reason.
