In 2018, the Government of Ontario expanded workers’ compensation entitlement to injured workers with mental health injuries suffered on the job. The legislature amended the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997, to state that workers are entitled to benefits for chronic mental stress injuries arising from work. WSIB policy now states that workers are entitled to compensation for mental stress injuries arising from harassment at work. These changes should expand workers’ redress for discriminatory treatment in employment.
However, as Maryth Yachnin details in the following paper, these early cases suggest that, as a result of the new law, injured workers may be restricted from pursuing human rights, civil or arbitration remedies arising from workplace discrimination and harassment.
Read the paper.