Can You File a Workers’ Compensation Claim for Stress?

Stress is generally an inevitable part of working. Deadlines, heavy workloads, and difficult coworkers or clients can make you groan on your way into work every day. But sometimes, work stress goes beyond what you’re normally expected to tolerate and becomes a psychological injury. When workplace stress affects your ability to function, causes panic attacks, and leads to ongoing health issues, can you seek compensation?

At KBG Injury Law, we help injured workers fight for the compensation they deserve. Call us today to schedule a consultation.

Can stress be considered a work injury in Pennsylvania?

The Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act provides benefits to workers who suffer injuries on the job. Psychological conditions may be compensable, but only if they meet Pennsylvania’s strict legal categories for mental injuries, and ordinary workplace stress usually does not qualify. You must be able to prove that your job caused the condition.

Generally, workplace injuries are broken down into three categories:

• Physical injuries that cause mental trauma: This covers workplace injuries that lead to mental health conditions. For example, imagine you suffer a limb amputation due to a machine malfunction at work. The loss of your limb and the drastic changes that result can cause you to develop major depressive disorder.
• Job stress that causes a physical problem: Courts may recognize mental stress leading to a physical condition if the stress is objectively abnormal for the job and is medically linked.
• Psychological stress that leads to a mental health condition: The toughest thing to prove in Pennsylvania is a purely mental condition that is not tied to any physical injuries or symptoms. For example, someone witnesses a robbery at work and develops PTSD as a result of it.

What’s considered an abnormal working condition?

The phrase “abnormal working conditions” is important when we’re talking about solely psychological injuries, because it’s a standard that Pennsylvania courts have upheld multiple times over the years. A claimant must use objective evidence to prove that they have suffered a psychiatric injury and that their injuries are not a reaction to a normal working environment.

Psychiatric injuries are difficult to prove, which is just one reason we recommend working with a workers’ compensation lawyer in Pennsylvania when trying to recover compensation for stress-related diagnoses. Ultimately, it comes down to the facts of your area of employment. What is considered a normal work environment for one career may be considered incredibly abnormal for another.

For example, in some work environments, particularly those involving forensic or investigative duties, employees may be exposed to traumatic situations on a regular basis, such as responding to serious criminal incidents. While these experiences may be emotionally difficult, they are often considered part of the normal expectations of the job. In another industry, however, like hospitality, those same experiences could be considered far outside what a worker could reasonably anticipate and would likely be viewed as abnormal, depending on the circumstances.

While most workers must meet the abnormal working conditions standard, Pennsylvania lawmakers recently created a limited exception for first responders.

Act 121 in PA

Act 121 revises the requirements for first responders to receive compensation for psychological injuries. Now, qualifying first responders may file PTSI claims without proving abnormal working conditions, but they must still show the condition resulted from a qualifying traumatic event. Legislators recognize that the nature of first responders’ work is inherently traumatic and that they are at greater risk of PTSD as a result.

Proving a work-related stress claim

These claims often come down to how much objective evidence you have. Having proof of your medical diagnosis and its link to your work is a lot easier with evidence like medical records from a psychiatrist or psychologist, testimony from coworkers and supervisors, employment records and incident reports, and expert opinions from professionals who can link what you experienced to your diagnosis.

Explore your workers’ compensation options with KBG Injury Law

The team at KBG Injury Law is committed to helping injured workers seek justice. Find out if your diagnosis may qualify you for workers’ comp benefits by contacting us now. You can reach us online or call us today.