Workplace Issues
We spend a great deal of time on this earth working, or at work. If you have a full-time job, your time spent at work can make up almost a third of your waking hours!
So when workplace issues arise, these can have a significant impact on not just your work functioning, but also your day-to-day functioning.
You may feel anxious, depressed, and uncertain about the future, and become socially withdrawn and irritable. You may have trouble sleeping. You may even dread the thought of going back to work, perhaps to a job that you once loved. These may all be signs that you have sustained a psychological injury at work.
What is a workplace psychological injury?
A workplace psychological injury refers to cognitive, emotional, and/or behavioural symptoms resulting from work-related experiences.
For some people, these symptoms may resolve over time or after resolution of the workplace stressor(s). For other people however, they may persist, and lead to clinical mental health issues such as depressive, anxiety, adjustment and trauma disorders.
Common causes of workplace psychological injuries can include:
- Exposure to traumatic events in the workplace
- Bullying, harassment, or discrimination
- Excessive workload or unrealistic expectations
- Poorly managed organisational change
- Poor induction processes, lack of training on essential job tasks, lack of clarity on key performance indicators (KPIs)
- Lack of support or recognition
- Difficulty coping with a physical injury sustained at the workplace
I‘ve sustained a workplace psychological injury. What type of support can I get?
Many medium to large organisations have Employee Assistance Programs (EAP), which entitle you to a certain number of free counselling sessions (usually around 3-5) with an EAP counsellor to support with workplace issues. Often the availability of EAP services is not adequately communicated to employees, so as a first step, be sure to check with your manager or HR representative about whether this is available to you.
If your workplace psychological injury involves an interpersonal conflict, it may also be useful to talk to your immediate manager or HR representative about your options, which can include steps toward conflict resolution, mediation services, or changes to your work role and reporting lines.
If you believe you have sustained a workplace psychological injury which involves a diagnosable psychological condition, you also have the option of submitting a worker’s compensation claim.
What is a worker’s compensation claim?
In Australia, almost all employers are legally required to have a worker’s compensation insurance policy. These insurance policies cover the expense of any accidents or events that occur at the workplace, which include reasonable costs for immediate and ongoing medical expenses and compensation for lost income for workers. This cover applies to casual, full-time, or part-time employees and some contractors.
Each Australian state has their own governing body for worker’s compensation claims, and each operates slightly differently. WorkSafe Victoria is the body responsible for managing worker’s compensation claims in the state of Victoria.
How do I make a psychological injury worker’s compensation claim?
To lodge a psychological injury claim in Victoria, you typically need:
- To complete and submit a WorkSafe VIC Worker’s Injury Claim Form (see here)
- To obtain a Certificate of Capacity (see here) issued by your GP or Psychiatrist, which specifies a *DSM-V diagnosis
- A supporting letter or report from a mental health professional (e.g. psychologist or psychiatrist) which may also include a diagnosis
- Evidence linking the injury to work or the workplace
- Documentation of workplace events (e.g., emails, reports, witness statements)
*Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – Fifth Edition
It’s important to note that you as the worker will need to complete ‘Part A‘ of the Worker’s Injury Claim Form, and your employer will need to complete ‘Part B‘. This usually means that you will need to email the completed Part A form to your employer so that they can complete their part and submit the claim to WorkSafe on your behalf.
If you don’t feel comfortable communicating with your employer due to bullying, harassment, or other interpersonal issues, or you’re not confident that your employer will complete and submit the claim form in a timely manner, you also have the option of submitting the claim to WorkSafe directly.
If you’re unsure about what to do, you can contact the WorkSafe Advisory Line on 1800 136 089.
What can I expect after submitting a claim?
Your worker’s compensation claim will be forwarded to one of four insurance companies, who act as WorkSafe ‘agents’. Your agent is responsible for assessing and making determinations on your claim, and act on behalf of WorkSafe Victoria.
Who your agent is will depend on who your employer has a policy with. At the time of writing, there are four agents in Victoria:
- Allianz Australia
- EML
- Gallagher Bassett
- DXC
After receipt, your agent has 28 days to review and assess your claim, and decide whether to accept or reject it. During this time, it’s common for an eligibility officer from your agent to contact you to obtain additional information, organise for a private investigator to interview key parties (e.g., you, your employer, and any witnesses to workplace incidents), and request that you attend an Independent Medical Examination (IME) with a specialist such as a Psychiatrist or Occupational Physician.
Can I get psychological treatment and support while I wait for the claim to be accepted?
Yes you can!
After receipt of a psychological injury claim, your agent has 5 days to determine whether you’re eligible for what’s called provisional payments.
The name ‘provisional payments’ can be a little bit misleading, as it doesn’t refer to compensation or loss of income payments as you might expect. Instead, it refers to funding for reasonable treatment and services for work-related psychological injuries. This includes funding for psychology sessions with a WorkSafe registered psychologist.
Once you’ve received a letter confirming your eligibility for provisional payments, you will be able to access psychology session funded under your claim, even while your claim is still being assessed. Your entitlement to provisional payments is in effect for a total period of 13 weeks, starting from the date of your first consultation with a mental health professional.
For more information about provisional payments, see this link.
What happens if my claim is rejected?
It can be extremely frustrating and disheartening to wait 4 weeks and find out that your claim has been rejected, especially if you believe that your current psychological symptoms have been caused or exacerbated by the workplace.
But don’t panic – one of the most common reasons claims are rejected is because the agent has insufficient information to accept the claim. This can be a lack of diagnosis, an invalid diagnosis, a lack of documentation linking your injury to the workplace, or it might be that they are waiting on an Independent Medical Report. Your rejection letter will come with appeal options, and even after rejection of a claim, agents can usually engage a process called a Post Decision Review.
It’s also worth noting that your entitlement to provisional payments will continue for the entire 13 week period even if your claim is rejected, meaning that you can still access psychological support to help you navigate through any appeals process or decide on your next steps.
At this point, it’s worthwhile having a chat to your eligibility officer about what further information you can provide, or failing that, consulting with WorkSafe directly on their advisory line (1800 136 089).
My claim has been accepted! What happens from here?
Acceptance of your claim can feel like the end of a very long and stressful process, and can carry significant feelings of relief and satisfaction. Despite this, you may still not feel like ‘yourself’, and you may still be grappling with a number of mental health symptoms as a result of your workplace experiences.
Thankfully, the claims process usually becomes a lot more streamlined from this point onward. If your claim for a psychological injury has been accepted, you will receive an acceptance letter that confirms your ongoing entitlement to the ‘reasonable costs of treatment’ related to your workplace injury. This more or less means that you are entitled to as many sessions of mental health support as you need to get back to your previous level of functioning, provided that it is with a WorkSafe Victoria registered practitioner.
In most cases, the acceptance letter will confirm that you are also entitled to compensation payments for any periods of time taken off work as a result of your workplace injury, which can help significantly with financial stressors and hardship as a result of your reduced work capacity.
I want to return to work but I’m unsure how to go about it. Are there any supports can I access for this under my claim?
Under a worker’s compensation claim, your employer has an obligation to help you return to work in a safe and reasonable manner, which includes engaging with you in workplace meetings, return-to-work (RTW) planning, and making reasonable accommodations for you to return to work if you have a reduced work capacity. Each employer, no matter their size, is required by law to have a designated ‘return to work coordinator’, whose role it is to assist employees with these activities. Larger employers may sometimes have dedicated return to work teams who specialise in this function.
If you and your employer are unsure how to go about this, and require assistance with safe and sustainable return-to-work planning, you are entitled to receive external occupational rehabilitation services funded under your claim.
Occupational rehabilitation providers are health professionals who are also specialists in return-to-work. Their role is to streamline and take some of the stress and uncertainty out of your return to work by conducting worksite assessments, create detailed RTW plans, and collaborate with your treating health team (including GP and psychologist).
Want to speak to someone about your workplace issues?
Whether you’re navigating a complex WorkSafe claim or just experiencing general work stress, we can help you to make sense of the situation and guide you through the next steps, in a warm and understanding environment.
Fluid Psychology is a fully registered WorkSafe provider, which means that our services can be covered under your workplace psychological injury claim. We also have a decade of experience helping clients to navigate workplace issues and compensation claims.
Request a confidential, no-obligation phone call with us by filling out our contact form or by sending an email to [email protected].