Important

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.

WorkSafeBC is an independent B.C. provincial 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 help getting back to work.

Facts about WorkSafeBC

  • WorkSafeBC functions like an insurance provider. Employers pay premiums to WorkSafe for the people who work for them. As a result, those people are entitled to benefits if they suffer a workplace injury.
  • About 95% of B.C. workers are covered by WorkSafeBC.
  • Every year, about 145,000 to 150,000 workers in B.C. file a WorkSafeBC claim. WorkSafeBC approves more than 90% of those claims.
  • However, most claims are for physical injuries. Fewer than 2% of injury claims are for psychological injury only. A total of 2,200 of these claims were approved in 2023. 
  • In 2022 1,500 mental disorder claims were disallowed.
  • Mental disorder claims made by workers such as correctional officers, paramedics, firefighters, police officers, emergency-response dispatchers, health-care personnel and other first responders are approved almost all the time.
  • Sources: WorkSafeBC Annual Report 2023, WorkSafeBC Facts & Figures, Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada

If you’ve been harmed by sexual harassment at work, you might think the WorkSafeBC 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 WorkSafeBC often covers.

However, historically, WorkSafeBC 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 WorkSafeBC was designed for and has a lot of experience handling. It has less experience with mental health claims, which it classifies as psychological injuries and the turndown rates for these are very high.

Though we’re not saying don’t bother applying for WorkSafeBC benefits, you should be aware that it’s likely your claim will not be successful. If you want to pursue the claim after being denied, you’ll need to be prepared to go through an appeal process. Appealing can take a long time, and, of the few appeals that are heard, many are denied.

Important

Legally, if your employer is a WorkSafeBC 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.

Important

If you want to apply for disability insurance through your workplace provider, the insurer may require you to apply to WorkSafeBC first, and appeal if you are turned down.

Pros and cons of going to WorkSafeBC

  • It isn’t expensive or very complicated. 
  • WorkSafeBC benefits can be generous. Wage replacement is up to 90% of your net salary.
  • You submit your claim directly to WorkSafeBC. No need to wait for your employer to investigate.
  • Representing yourself is possible when first making a claim. But if your claim is denied, appealing is more complicated. There may be some legal resources to help if you still want to represent yourself.
  • WorkSafeBC 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, WorkSafeBC won’t give you that.
  • WorkSafeBC has a high rate of denying mental disorder claims.
  • If WorkSafeBC rejects your claim and you appeal, the appeal process may be lengthy.
  • You can’t apply to WorkSafeBC secretly. Your employer will know about your claim, which means they will have information about your private health circumstances.
  • 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.
    To make a claim, you will need a medical professional to say that you’ve suffered an injury.

Mental disorder claims

WorkSafeBC awards benefits due to the injury you sustained, which in your case would be damaged mental health. There are two types of psychological injuries that WorkSafeBC covers:

“A significant work-related stressor, or a cumulative series of significant work-related stressors, arising out of and in the course of employment.” Being repeatedly sexually harassed by a co-worker might lead to this type of injury.

“A reaction to one or more traumatic events arising out of and in the course of employment.” Examples might be witnessing the death of or severe injury to a colleague or being physically threatened yourself at work. It’s not likely this type of claim fits your situation. 

WorkSafeBC won’t cover every kind of mental disorder 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 WorkSafeBC application

First, you must decide if filing a claim with the WCB is the right choice for you. If you choose to go to WorkSafeBC to report injury arising from sexual harassment or sexual assault, you must call Teleclaim at 1-604-231-8888 or 1-888-967-5377. You will then be provided with specific assistance.

To file a claim with the WCB, you must be employed in a business or industry that is covered by the Workers Compensation Act. About 95% of workers in B.C. are included under the act.

For more information

The WorkSafeBC website includes a fact sheet answering frequently asked questions about mental health condition claims as well as a page describing what’s involved in qualifying and the possible benefits of a successful claim.

Legal help

Representing yourself is possible when first making a claim. But if your claim is denied, appealing is more complicated. Here are some places that offer free or lower-cost legal services:

  • The Workers’ Advisers Office is a branch of the Ministry of Labour that provides free and confidential services about workplace injuries and compensation to non-unionized workers. This office can provide information and advice throughout the WorkSafeBC process. In some cases, it can help with representation during appeals. It also has an extensive network of supports for injured workers and may be able to direct you to other organizations that can help.
  • The Community Legal Assistance Society (CLAS), which serves low- to middle-income people, may be able to help if your appeal to the Workers Compensation Appeal Tribunal is unsuccessful. To start the process, complete the online intake form.
  • Access Pro Bono has a free lawyer referral service for low- or modest-income individuals who are not eligible for legal aid. Its Everyone Legal Clinic can connect you with an articling student for low-cost assistance.  
  • The Law Students’ Legal Advice Program assists low-income individuals who live in the Greater Vancouver Area. It can provide you with advice on WorkSafeBC matters.
  • The Respect at Work Legal Clinic, a project of the Migrant Workers Centre, provides free legal advice to newcomers to Canada (regardless of status) about WorkSafeBC claims.
  • JusticeNet 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 or cover part of your legal fees.

For advice on hiring a lawyer, see How to find and work with a lawyer.