P.E.I. Compensates for Workplace Harassment Injuries: 5 FAQs
Published:
March 4, 2025
Author(s):
Effective January 1, 2025, workers who suffer psychological injuries caused by workplace harassment arising from or in the course of employment will be eligible for workers compensation benefits under the P.E.I. Workers’ Compensation Act. Here are the answers to five frequently-asked questions about the expanded coverage for workplace harassment under the P.E.I. Workers Compensation Act.
1. How has the P.E.I. Workers’ Compensation Board effected the expansion to include coverage for workplace harassment?
Unlike 2024 amendments to the Nova Scotia Workers’ Compensation Act, Prince Edward Island has not expanded the definition of a workplace “accident” under the P.E.I. Workers Compensation Act to allow workers to be compensated for gradual onset stress, including that caused by workplace harassment and bullying. The definition of “accident” in the P.E.I. Act continues to expressly include only stress that’s an “acute reaction to a traumatic event”. Instead, the coverage expansion is pursuant to the P.E.I. Workers’ Compensation Board’s 2024 Psychological or Psychiatric Condition Policy (POL-01). The Policy outlines the eligibility criteria for coverage for a psychological or psychiatric injury sustained at work. On November 27, 2024, the Board announced it will expand coverage for “psychological injury” to include injuries caused by work-related harassment.
2. Exactly what changes has the Board’s made to its Policy respecting coverage for psychological or psychiatric injury to include workplace harassment?
The criteria for workers’ compensation benefits eligibility in general hasn’t changed. The worker must still establish that:
- There has been an “accident” within the meaning of the P.E.I. Workers’ Compensation Act, defined as, “an accident resulting in an injury to a worker arising out of and in the course of employment and includes: a wilful and intentional act that is not the act of the worker who suffers the accident; a chance event occasioned by a physical or natural cause; disablement; and an occupational disease; but does not include stress other than an acute reaction to a traumatic event.
- The accident caused personal injury, which the Policy defines as a diagnosed physiological or psychological injury or condition caused by an accident arising out of and in the course of employment.
- The injury arose out of and in the course of employment.
What has changed is that a worker may now be entitled to compensation benefits for a psychological or psychiatric condition where they were not before, potentially leading to more workers’ compensation claims against employers. To be eligible for compensation, the Policy provides that a worker must be diagnosed by a psychiatrist or psychologist with a recognized physiological or psychological condition under the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) that resulted from a prescribed list of causes. Previously, workplace harassment was not one such prescribed cause. However, the Policy now includes as one prescribed cause, “an acute reaction to a single occurrence or the cumulative effects of repeated workplace harassment.”
3. What constitutes “workplace harassment” for the purposes of the Workers’ Compensation Board of P.E.I.’s Policy respecting coverage for psychological or psychiatric injury?
The Policy sets out a definition of “harassment” that’s consistent with the 2020 P.E.I. Workplace Harassment Regulations under the P.E.I. Occupational Health and Safety Act as any inappropriate conduct, comment, display, action, or gesture, or any bullying that the person responsible knows, or ought reasonably to know, could have a harmful effect on a worker’s psychological or physical health and safety, and can include repeated inappropriate conduct that has a harmful effect, or a single occurrence of inappropriate conduct if sufficiently severe to result in injury. The definition excludes a condition that results from factors or circumstances considered to be a normal part of any workplace, such as usual work pressures, an employer’s employment decisions or reasonable actions (for example, decisions to change working conditions, routine management actions, interpersonal relationships and conflicts) and ongoing personal circumstances or regular workplace duties.
4. Will the WCB do its own workplace harassment investigation when evaluating claims for compensation based on workplace harassment?
The Board has stated it will require the employer to provide the result of its internal investigation and any findings or corrective action that it has or will take as a result, but will not require the employer to provide its entire investigation report. However, the Policy states that for the purposes of the presumption that a traumatic event is work-related and determining whether a traumatic event occurred, the Board will consider the worker’s subjective statements and response to the events. To approve a claim, the Board must clearly identify the events that triggered the reaction leading to a diagnosis and confirm that those events were indeed the cause of the diagnosis. This suggests the Board might itself investigate claims arising from workplace harassment and could conduct its own, potentially parallel, investigation in which it will gather and consider information from a variety of sources, including conducting interviews and/or taking statements from the workers involved, health care professionals, the worker’s supervisory staff, members of the public – and you, as the employer.
It’s important to remember that the objectives of your harassment investigation and that of the Board are different. It’s possible your investigations will arrive at different conclusions. Just as the Board isn’t bound by your investigation, you’re not bound by its investigation. Provided you conducted a proper workplace investigation, you should feel confident in relying on the results of your own investigation to take appropriate action regardless of the outcome of any Board investigation.
5. How can I mitigate the risks of a workers’ compensation claim resulting from workplace harassment?
Stick to the basics: strive to provide a harassment-free workplace. Notably, the P.E.I. Workplace Harassment Regulations under the P.E.I. Occupational Health and Safety Act require all employers in Prince Edward Island to take specific steps to both proactively prevent and to respond to workplace harassment.
Please contact your McInnes Cooper lawyer or any member of our Labour & Employment Law Team @ McInnes Cooper to discuss how you can provide a harassment-free workplace.
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