E-Newsletter: Workers' Comp

Workers' Compensation Coverage of Mental Harm

Payment of workers' compensation benefits to workers sustaining physical injuries or occupational diseases in the workplace has become commonplace and expected. Much less certain is the availability of workers' compensation benefits for employment-related mental or emotional harm. Although workers' compensation law generally varies from state to state, the treatment of mental-health coverage is extremely diverse and relatively complex. If you suffer from work-related emotional or mental damage, it is in your best interest to consult an experienced workers' compensation attorney as early in the process as possible to understand the treatment of mental impairment by the workers' compensation law of your jurisdiction.

In the workers' compensation setting, mental-health claims are divided into three types: Physical-Mental, Mental-Physical and Mental-Mental. For a worker with a mental injury, the category into which the injury fits and the treatment of that category by his or her state law will determine whether the injury is compensable in workers' compensation.

• Physical-Mental Cases. Physical-Mental cases involve physical injuries or trauma that causes mental or emotional harm. In situations where an employment-related physical injury or industrial disease causes distressing mental or emotional harm, most states will allow workers' compensation for both the physical and mental injuries. The manifestation of psychological distress from physical injury or disease is relatively easy to prove and commonly accepted. For example, a worker who contracts a chronic debilitating occupational disease understandably may develop related depression and anxiety.
  
  
• Mental-Physical Cases. Mental-Physical cases include situations where mental damage results in physical symptoms. In some jurisdictions, an employment-related mental or emotional harm must subsequently cause physical symptoms to be compensable in workers' compensation.
  
  
• Mental-Mental Cases. Mental-Mental cases involve mental or emotional harm without any connection to physical injury. In some states, mental harm is not compensable in workers' compensation unless there is a link to actual physical harm, whether preceding or following the mental injury, while in other states, job-related mental or emotional impairments are routinely covered even without accompanying physical injury or symptoms. Falling between these views are the states that allow mental-health claims without physical harm if the mental or emotional harm was induced by either an unexpected traumatic work-related event or an unusually high level of stress in the work setting.
  
  

States hesitant to cover mental-health claims or requiring more conditions for such coverage often cite problems inherent in proving the existence of a subjective condition generally and in proving a connection between work and the emotional problem specifically. Subjective complaints are harder to prove and create a higher possibility of fraud.

On the other hand, states that routinely cover job-related emotional and mental harm claims by workers' compensation promote the compassionate policy that workers' compensation should inclusively provide a safety net for all types of work-generated injuries.

Conclusion

This is only a brief outline of the intricate law of the treatment of mental harm by workers' compensation schemes. Many states have additional requirements and variations on these standards. The law in your state can be explained by a knowledgeable workers' compensation lawyer and if your mental injury is not covered by workers' compensation, the lawyer can also investigate whether or not you may have other legal recourse.

Examples of Workers' Compensation Claims for Mental Harm

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Examples of Workers' Compensation Claims for Mental Harm

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