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With Christmas having come and gone, many employees are feeling the seasonal holiday stress. For some unfortunate employees, the stress doesn't begin or end at Christmas. While it’s normal to experience stress in a job, sometimes it can become psychologically and emotionally harmful. Even though employers write-off stress as a harmless hazard of work, it can begin to affect your daily life and mental health. When your personal health is in jeopardy, it can turn into different mental, emotional and physical conditions such as depression, anxiety and high blood pressure. Like any other injury at work, these work-related stress symptoms can be claimed for compensation.
Anyone who has experienced intense bouts of stress or prolonged periods of stress knows that it can significantly contribute to your psychological and psychiatric issues. For work-related stress psychological and psychiatric injuries, it can be difficult to prove. We highly recommend that you call one of our experienced lawyers for guidance on your case.
Work-related stress can lead to illness, injury and decreases in one's productivity. Employers have a legal obligation to minimise their workers’ exposure to work-related factors that increase stress. The obligation remains the same for self-employed workers and contractors.
Can I claim for work-related stress?
The answer is yes, you definitely can, however, it can be difficult as you are claiming compensation for an injury that cannot be seen. Regardless, worker’s compensation exists to provide financial support for employees forced to take time off from jobs due to injuries, including mental health conditions (only a small percentage of worker’s compensation claims are mental health).
Causes of your psychological injury
Stress-related psychological injuries that lead to a worker’s compensation claim must be directly tied to work. This is standard for any type of worker’s compensation claim. Some of the factors at your work that may contribute to stress include:
- Bullying
- Sexual harassment
- Exposure to a traumatic event at work
- Workplace violence
- High level of work pressure
The above factors can create a toxic work environment which can be harmful to your mental health and exacerbate your stress. However, if your employer took reasonable management actions to reduce these variables, then they may be protected from some liability. They will have to prove this.
Conditions that are associated with work-related stress injuries are classified under the six types of impairment. These are:
- Self-care and personal hygiene
- Social and recreational activities
- Travel
- Social functioning
- Concentration, persistence and pace
- Employability
These areas are measured by a psychiatrist to determine the net impact of the work-related harm that you have suffered. The psychiatrist will also take into consideration other variables such as potential effects of treatment, personality disorders and possible substance abuse problems.
What can you claim for work-related stress?
Medical expenses
When you make a compensation claim for an injury, whether it be psychological or physical, you can seek financial coverage for your medical expenses. The length of financial coverage for these medical expenses is based on your permanent Whole Person Impairment (WPI) percentage that you have suffered.
Income
For reduced capacity at work, you can claim compensation that is based on a percentage of your pre-injury salary. Your payments will continue as long as:
- you fulfil your return-to-work obligation,
- the insures accepts/judges that you are not able to work and,
- you do not exceed the entitlement period.
Unable to work
If you have a permanent impairment or injury – one that is unlikely to ever improve or allow you to complete work at full capacity – then you may be eligible for a lump-sum payment. With regards to psychological harm (caused by work-related stress), you must achieve at least 15% WPI to make this claim.
You must notify your employer and in some cases, their company’s insurance provider, of the time, date and circumstances of the incident or incidents in addition to a description of how it has personally and mentally affected you.
For injuries that are psychologically traumatic and due to work, you should ensure that your case is taken care of only by professionals. While you will need to get diagnosed by an accredited specialist, you will also need to present a solid legal case. One of our lawyers is the best person to help you through this difficult time.
Our Prominent Lawyers team is here to guide you through your worker’s compensation case. We will calmly answer any questions and concerns you may have and offer you the best legal advice and guidance for your situation. Our lawyers are here to support you and get you the help you need.
*The contents in this article are solely intended to provide general information in summary and do not constitute legal advice. We recommend seeking the assistance of a legal professional to discuss any matters at hand.
