Can I get workers' comp for stress or anxiety in California?

Yes, but the threshold is higher than for physical injuries. Labor Code section 3208.3 requires a diagnosed psychiatric condition in which actual events of employment were the predominant cause — more than half — and generally six months of employment; injuries caused by lawful, good-faith personnel actions are not compensable.

California compensates psychiatric injury, but Labor Code section 3208.3 erects gates that physical claims do not face. The worker must have a diagnosed mental disorder causing disability or the need for treatment, and must show that actual events of employment — not perceptions or non-work stressors — were the predominant cause, meaning more than 50 percent, of the condition. Six months of employment is generally required, waived when the injury is caused by a sudden and extraordinary employment event. The most litigated defense follows: conditions substantially caused by lawful, nondiscriminatory, good-faith personnel actions — criticism, discipline, transfers, terminations done properly — are not compensable, placing routine management decisions outside the system. Claims filed after notice of termination face additional restrictions under section 3208.3(e). For workers who are victims of a violent event at work, the causation threshold drops to a substantial cause standard. Psychiatric injury can also ride alongside a physical injury claim, though permanent disability add-ons for that route are limited by Labor Code section 4660.1.

Authority: Cal. Lab. Code § 3208.3