This is not legal advice! What you are getting here is just general legal information. It is not a substitute for advice from an actual lawyer about your specific situation. If you need legal advice, we urge you to find a lawyer who can help you.
The Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia is an independent Nova Scotia governmental agency that gives benefits and supports to people who’ve been injured at work. These can include replacement of lost wages, health care (including rehabilitation, counselling, and medications), and, in extreme situations, retraining.
Facts about the Workers’ Compensation Board
- The WCB functions like an insurance provider. Employers pay premiums to the WCB for the people who work for them. As a result, those people are entitled to benefits if they suffer a workplace injury.
- About 75% of Nova Scotia workers are covered by the WCB.
- Every year, roughly 20,500 claims are registered. Of these, about 25% are claims that involve time lost from work.
- The Office of the Worker Counsellor represents over 70% of people appealing WCB decisions to the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Tribunal.
- Since September 2024 the WCB has allowed claims for “gradual onset psychological injury.” This can include workplace bullying and harassment.
- Sources: Workers’ Compensation Board, Workers’ Compensation Board Annual Report 2023, Workers’ Compensation Appeals Tribunal Annual Report 2024, Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada, Office of the Worker Counsellor
If you’ve been harmed by sexual harassment at work, you might think the WCB will help you.
- Maybe after you were harassed, you took time off work and so lost income.
- Maybe the harassment damaged your mental health, and you ended up needing to spend money on medication for anxiety or depression.
- Maybe the harassment had such an effect on you that you had to leave an industry and ended up needing to retrain for a new type of work in a different field.
Those are the kinds of expenses—replacement of lost wages, medication costs, retraining costs—that the WCB often covers.
However, historically, the WCB has mostly handled claims related to physical injuries suffered by workers in male-dominated fields like construction, manufacturing, and uniform occupations like policing and firefighting. If you slip at work and break your ankle, or are struck by a falling object, or are injured in a fire or explosion: that is the kind of situation the WCB was designed for and has a lot of experience handling.
For many years, the only kind of harm to mental health the Nova Scotia Workers’ Compensation Act covered was “traumatic psychological injury,” which is defined as an “acute reaction to a traumatic event.” Close to two-thirds of the people receiving benefits for work time lost due to this type of injury were first responders who experienced post-traumatic stress disorder.
In September 2024 the act was amended to include coverage of “gradual onset or traumatic mental stress.” This is defined as a harm “wholly or predominantly caused by one or more significant workplace stressors or a cumulative series of significant workplace stressors.” When we were writing this it wasn’t yet clear how likely a claim for harm because of sexual harassment would be successful.
Legally, if your employer is a WCB member, they are required to report any injuries that occur in their workplace. But really most are unlikely to do this in sexual harassment cases, because they often deny the harassment occurred or that it caused real harm.
If you want to apply for disability insurance through your workplace provider, the insurer may require you to apply to the WCB first, and appeal if you are turned down.
Pros and cons of going to the WCB
Pros
- It isn’t expensive.
- WCB benefits can be generous. Wage replacement is up to 85% of your net salary.
- If the WCB asks for a psychological assessment, it will cover the cost of an evaluation by a registered psychologist or psychiatrist.
Cons
- The WCB doesn’t investigate or adjudicate whether you were sexually harassed. If you are looking for someone to tell you that you were sexually harassed, and to punish the harasser or your employer for allowing the harassment, the WCB won’t give you that.
- If the WCB rejects your claim and you appeal, the appeal process may be lengthy.
- Usually, you and your employer must complete an injury report together, although it is sometimes possible to open a claim on your own.
- Your employer will have the opportunity to dispute your claim. It’s very likely they will do this, in which case proving your case will be more difficult.
- Your employer will be updated about any changes to your claim. That means they will continue to know about your personal health situation, even if you don’t work for them anymore.
Gradual onset psychological injury claims
The WCB awards benefits due to the injury you sustained, which in your case would be damaged mental health. Under the WCB guidelines, to qualify for coverage:
- your injury must have been “wholly or predominantly” caused by “a significant workplace stressor” due to bullying or harassment
- a registered psychiatrist or psychologist has diagnosed the injury, which could include anxiety or depression
The WCB won’t cover every kind of mental stress that arises at work. If you develop a mental health condition caused by your employer making changes to your shifts or other working conditions, for example, or firing you, or due to interpersonal conflicts that don’t involve harassment, you aren’t eligible to file a claim.
How to make a WCB application
First, you should complete WCB’s self-assessment to determine whether your claim might be accepted. If it seems as if you could be eligible for coverage, call 1-833-491-8889 to speak to a WCB Client Care Navigator.
For more information
See the Gradual Onset Psychological Injury page on the WCB’s website. It includes frequently asked questions about gradual onset psychological injury claims.
Legal help
- Through Legal Info Nova Scotia you can contact legally trained counsellors who provide free, practical information about Nova Scotia law. It also offers lawyer referral services for a small fee. The Lawyer Referral Service can put you in contact with a lawyer who will offer a 30-minute initial consultation for a fee of no more than $20.
- If your claim was denied and you want to pursue an appeal, the Workers’ Advisers Program offers free legal services for eligible applicants. The government-funded WAP is independent from the WCB. It can help you appeal a WCB or Workers’ Compensation Appeals Tribunal decision. It will assess your case and only represent you if an adviser thinks you are likely to win.
- The Office of the Worker Counsellor, a project of the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour, provides free assistance to people dealing with the workers compensation system in the province.
- Nova Scotia Legal Aid offers low-income individuals advice and support but not representation for WCB-related issues.
- Justice Net is a not-for-profit service for those whose income is too high to qualify for legal aid but too low to afford regular legal fees. To qualify you must have a net family income under $70,000, or $90,000 if there are three or more people in your family, and be experiencing financial difficulties. Participating lawyers’ reduced rates vary depending on your family size and income.
- Your workplace union, association, or employee assistance program may be able to help you find legal services.
For advice on hiring a lawyer, see How to find and work with a lawyer.
