Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER April 18, 2016 FEATURES 15 HEALTH & SAFETY Proposed legislation would presume PTSD in first responders work-related What does it mean for employers in Ontario that would be affected by change? By Carissa Tanzola O n Feb. 18, 2016, the On- tario government pro- posed Bill 163: An Act to amend the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 (WSIA) and the Ministry of Labour Act (MOLA) — also known as Sup- porting Ontario's First Respond- ers Act (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder), 2016. As of Feb. 23, 2016, Bill 163 made it to second reading. If passed, Bill 163 will allow first responders faster access to On- tario WSIA benefits by removing the need to prove a causal link between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a workplace event, and instead create a pre- sumption that PTSD diagnosed in a first responder was sus- tained "out of and in the course of employment." is assumption is intended to address the fact first responders are at least twice as likely as mem- bers of the general public to suf- fer PTSD given the risk of routine exposure to traumatic stressors. e proposed legislation would apply to more than 73,000 first responders in Ontario, including employees of health-care provid- ers, municipalities and correc- tional services. As the likely result of Bill 163 will be an increase in successful PTSD claims, the cost of work- ers' compensation coverage, pri- marily for Schedule 2 employers, is expected to rise. Affected em- ployers should therefore look for ways to proactively manage these anticipated costs and, at the very least, budget for them. e current landscape At present, section 13 of the WSIA allows a worker who sustains a personal injury by an accident arising "out of and in the course of his or her employment" to collect workers' compensation benefits. ere is a presumption the injury occurred in the workplace unless the contrary is shown. However, a worker is not enti- tled to benefits for "mental stress" (including PTSD) unless he has "an acute reaction to a sudden and unexpected traumatic event aris- ing out of and in the course of his or her employment." is means that while a worker (including a first responder) is currently eligible for workers' compensation benefits for a men- tal health condition, the onus is on the worker to prove the men- tal illness or injury fits within the somewhat narrow parameters set out in the WSIA and subsequent interpretations. As a result, it can be a difficult and long process to obtain benefits. Details of Bill 163 As it is currently drafted, Bill 163 amends the WSIA as follows: It is presumed the following first responders, once diagnosed with PTSD, sustained the dis- order out of and in the course employment: • full-time, part-time and volun- teer firefighter • fire investigator • police officer • member of a First Nations emer- gency response team • paramedic • emergency medical attendant • communication officer (for pur- poses of the Ambulance Act) • worker in a correctional institution • worker in place of a secure cus- tody or place of secure tempo- rary detention • worker whose duties include dispatching firefighters and po- lice offers. e above noted presumption may be rebutted with evidence. REVIEW > pg. 17 Employers should look for ways to manage anticipated costs.

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