SIX MONTH PSYCH RULE CLARIFIED


Christopher Becerra was employed by Express Employment from 12/6/2017 to 6/13/2018 during which time he physically worked 77 days or 15.4 weeks. Thereafter he filed a psych claim due to harassment., which the defense denied the claim in part due to the applicant not earning enough wages to satisfy the six month psych rule. Labor Code 3208.3(d) provides that no compensation for a psych injury shall be paid "unless the employee has been employed by that employer for at least six months...which...need not be continuous".

The WCAB concluded the statute simply requires six months of employment, which need not be continuous or unbroken, and without any other qualifications. Therefore, given the applicant was technically employed for at least six months, no matter how many hours he actually worked, his psych claim was not barred under LC 3208.3(d). Express Employment v. WCAB (Becerra) (2021 Cal. Wrk. Comp. LEXIS 373; and writ denied per 2022 Cal. Wrk. Comp. LEXIS 12).

[COMMENT: In short, the six months is based solely upon the time period between the first and last day of employment with the same employer, no matter how much or little the person worked, which seems contrary to the statute's intent of barring claims of flakey short-term employees.]