The numbers are 'pathetic,' says federation of labour president
In over a year since the Manitoba government expanded workers’ eligibility to include the psychological impacts of an excessive workload, only one claim under those guidelines has been accepted, according to reports.
Overall, there were 21 claims of psychological injury due to extreme work filed with the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba between May 1, 2023 and July 16, 2024, reported both the Winnipeg Free Press and CBC.
Out of those, 12 were denied, one predated the new policy, one was withdrawn by the worker and two were accepted as psychological injuries but under other guidelines.
Four others are pending.
Since May 1, 2023, workers in Manitoba are eligible for coverage for psychological injuries arising from excessive workload.
In the third quarter of this year, the number of employee reviews that mention "burnout" on employment platform Glassdoor has reached the highest level since 2016, according to a previous report.
‘False barriers’ for mental health claims
The number of claims under Manitoba’s rule are “pathetic,” said Kevin Rebeck, Manitoba Federation of Labour (MFL) president, in the CBC report.
"It just shows that there's a big disconnect here right now," he said. "Today in Manitoba, if you're injured on the job by a physical injury, you'll get covered by WCB. But if it's a mental health injury … WCB has put a bunch of false barriers in place between workers getting the compensation that they need and deserve."
The fact there are only 21 claims shows that workers don't want to file one because they don't think they'll be accepted, Rebeck said.
"The bar that's being put before them is so high," he said. "You need to have a psychologist or psychiatrist diagnose you and say that's the issue. They [WCB] need to expand who they'll accept medical information from."
Nearly seven in 10 employees say that their mental health stayed the same or worsened in the past year, according to a previous report from Calm.com.
Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson called the process of getting a claim accepted “stringent” with an unreasonable number of hoops to jump through.
“We’re finding that, for some reason, nurses’ claims are not being accepted under the psychological (damage guidelines),” she said, according to the Winnipeg Free Press.
“And I don’t understand why, because it’s clear to me, and to anyone in this province that has been listening, there is definitely psychological damage in health care in this day and age.”
A statement from the WCB said the board “investigates each claim individually” and encouraged any worker who may feel discouraged from filing a claim by their employer to report it to the WCB, noted the Free Press.
However, the labour minister should review the guidelines, Jackson said. The MFL also said it would like to see a review, broadening the medical documentation it will accept.
In July, the Workers Compensation Board (WCB) of Prince Edward Island said it will be broadening compensation coverage to include psychological injuries that result from work-related harassment.