# Should you apply for workers comp? (YT) > URL: https://www.aftermetoo.com/article/should-you-apply-for-workers-comp/yt/ > Language: en > Description: In Yukon, workers comp can replace lost wages, but harassment claims are hard to win—how to tell whether it's worth applying. --- 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](https://www.aftermetoo.com/article/how-to-find-and-work-with-a-lawyer/) who can help you. The [Yukon Workers’ Safety and Compensation Board](https://www.wcb.yk.ca/) is an organization that gives benefits and supports to people who’ve been injured at work. These benefits can include replacement of lost wages, coverage of health care costs, and permanent impairment awards. The WSCB is governed by the [Workers’ Safety and Compensation Act](https://laws.yukon.ca/cms/images/LEGISLATION/PRINCIPAL/2021/2021-0011/2021-0011_2.pdf). ## **Facts**about the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Board - The Workers’ Safety and Compensation Board functions like an insurance provider. Employers pay premiums to the WSCB for the people who work for them. As a result, those people are entitled to benefits if they suffer a workplace injury and employers are immune from being sued in civil court in relation to those injuries.  - About 96% of Yukon workers are covered under the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Act. - Every year, about 900 claims are filed with the WSCB by Yukon workers. Of those, roughly 25% are ruled ineligible. - Only injuries due to post-traumatic stress disorder or involvement in a traumatic event are covered by the WSCB. - Sources: [Workers’ Safety and Compensation Board Annual Report 2023](https://www.wcb.yk.ca/getmedia/25429245-de7e-4ac7-9be5-3d3d07c45861/ART-0201-02-00-Annual-Report-2023.pdf), [Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada](https://awcbc.org/data-and-statistics/key-statistical-measures/detailed-key-statistical-measures-report) If you’ve been harmed by sexual harassment at work, you might think the WSCB 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 WSCB often covers. However, historically, the WSCB 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 WSCB was designed for and has a lot of experience handling. But if the injury is to your mental health, the WSCB only offers benefits and supports when you have experienced post-traumatic stress disorder****or a “traumatic event,” which it defines as “exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury or violence.” The WSCB states that “mental stress is not considered to be a work-related injury.” Your options could include making a complaint to the Human Rights Commission or taking legal action. --- ## Article reviewers Aftermetoo articles are reviewed by members of the following panel of people and organizations. Not every member reviewed every article; regional articles were reviewed by lawyers in that jurisdiction. - Kathleen Avery, LLB, lawyer, Yukon Workers’ Safety and Compensation Board - Barbara Bergmann, JD, lawyer, Workplace Sexual Harassment Clinic/Yukon Legal Services Society - Meredith Brown, JD, lawyer, Calibrate - Stephen Carpenter, LLB, lawyer, Workers Compensation Board of PEI - Amber Chisholm, JD, associate director, Public Legal Education and Information Service of New Brunswick (PLEIS-NB) - Callandra Cochrane, JD, lawyer, Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic - Alexander Dezan, JD, legal counsel, Yukon Human Rights Commission - Sandra Guarascio, JD, lawyer, investigator, facilitator, Roper Greyell LLP Employment + Labour Lawyers - Andrea Gunraj, vice-president, public engagement, Canadian Women’s Foundation - Sara Hanson, JD, senior associate, Moore Edgar Lyster LLP - Noah Jacobs, BA, Public Legal Information Association of NL - Khurram Khurshid, LLB, research officer, New Brunswick Human Rights Commission - Raphaëlle Laframboise-Carignan, JD, lawyer, RavenLaw LLP - Kevin Love, JD, lawyer, Community Legal Assistance Society, BC - Sarah McCoubrey, BFA, JD, MEd, lawyer, Calibrate - Lesley McCullough, JD, founder and director, Workplace Sexual Harassment Legal Clinic, Yukon - Alison McEwen, JD, RavenLaw LLP - Garreth McGrath, JD, legal support navigator, Public Legal Information Association of NL - Sarah McHugh-Wade, BA, legal support navigator, the Journey Project - Sandra MacKenzie, JD, lawyer, Lawson Lundell LLP - Anna-Marie Manley, LLB, lawyer, Patterson Law - Deepa Mattoo, LLB, lawyer and executive director, Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic - Loretta Merritt, LLB, LLM, lawyer, Torkin Manes Barristers & Solicitors - Chetan Muram, JD, counsel, Toronto Workers’ Health and Safety Legal Clinic - Gobhina Nagarajah, JD, staff solicitor, Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Commission - Alex Norris, JD, associate, Carbert Waite LLP - Anita Nowinka, BSc, JD, associate, Carbert Waite LLP - Kim Nutz, JD, Sunstone Legal in association with West Legal - Kevin O’Shea, JD, executive director, Public Legal Information Association of NL - Coral Rajchgot, LLB, JD, former intern, Aftermetoo - Carley Reynolds, BA, criminology; JD, counsel, Donich Law - Lucie Roubin, avocate, Juripop - Ginette Savoie, director, Workers’ Advocate, Government of New Brunswick - Paméla Schiavoni, JD, lawyer, New Brunswick Human Rights Commission - Mary Shortall, president, Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour - Morgan Sim, JD, MA, international relations, lawyer, Parker Sim LLP - Cécile Simon, JD, avocate-conseillère, Juripop, Bureau du respect de la personne - Michelle Squires, JD, project manager, Canadian Mental Health Association, York Region - Dayna Steinfeld, LLB, JD, Winnipeg lead lawyer, RavenLaw LLP - Keir Vallance, JD, lawyer, Bainbridge Jodouin Cheecham Barristers & Solicitors - Sherri Walsh, JD, managing partner, Hill Sokalski Walsh LLP - Madeleine Werker, JD, associate, Grosman Gale Fletcher Hopkins LLP - Canadian Labour Congress - The Help and Information Center on Workplace Harassment (GAIHST) - Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Commission