Work-Related PTSD Compensation Claims

PTSD is usually triggered by exposure to a violent, frightening, or deeply distressing event. Some roles carry a higher risk, including members of An Garda Síochána, the Defence Forces, the fire service, and paramedics, who regularly face traumatic situations. However, PTSD can affect people in many other settings, such as schools, hospitals, offices, factories, and shops. It can also occur after an assault, a serious accident, an armed robbery, or sustained bullying. What matters legally is whether a traumatic experience at work, and a failure by the employer to protect you, led to your condition.

Yes. Irish law compensates a recognised psychiatric injury, so a formal diagnosis of PTSD, or of another recognised condition, from a suitably qualified professional is essential. Ordinary stress, worry, or upset, however genuine, is generally not enough on its own. This is one reason it is important to see your GP and, where appropriate, a mental health specialist, both for your own wellbeing and to create the medical record that a claim depends on.

An employer is responsible where they have been negligent, and where psychological harm was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of that negligence. In practice, this often means showing that the employer knew, or ought to have known, of a risk to your mental health, for example an obviously traumatic exposure or a known pattern of bullying, and failed to take reasonable steps to prevent it. Employers are required to assess and manage psychosocial risks, not only physical ones, so a failure to do so can be central to a claim.

In general, you have two years to bring a claim, but the timing can be less straightforward with PTSD, because the condition sometimes develops or is diagnosed well after the event. The two years usually run from the date you became aware that you had a significant injury linked to your work, rather than from the event itself. Because this can be open to argument, it is wise to take legal advice as soon as you are able to.

Evidence is key, and it usually combines several strands: medical records and reports documenting your diagnosis and its severity; incident or accident reports and any related correspondence; and accounts from colleagues or other witnesses. The aim is to establish a clear link between the traumatic experience at work, the employer’s failure to protect you, and your condition. We can help you gather and present this evidence in a sensitive and structured way.

Compensation has two parts. General damages, for the effect of the condition on your health and quality of life, are assessed using the Personal Injuries Guidelines, which contain a specific category for post-traumatic stress disorder. Special damages cover financial losses, such as lost earnings, the cost of therapy or other treatment, and any future losses. The amount reflects the severity of your condition, how long it is expected to last, and the extent to which it affects your daily life and your ability to work.