Is Your Business Addressing Mental Health? – Mondaq News Alerts

07 February 2020

Fogler, Rubinoff LLP

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On January 23, 2020, CAMH launched the Workplace Mental Health Playbook for Business Leaders, which addresses the relationship between employees, their workplace, and mental health. The Playbook has five key recommendations, with examples of best practices for workplaces.

The Playbook states that the economic burden of mental illness every year in Canada is $51 billion and that 30% of disability claims in Canada are due to mental illness. Further, only 32% of Canadian employees feel that their organization's leadership is taking action to address workplace mental health. These numbers are staggering, growing, and will ultimately negatively impact your business if workplace leaders do not take action.

The Playbook discusses and lists five recommendations for Canadian Business Leaders:

Organizations should ensure they have a strategy for mental health that works with its overall business strategy, and supports employees in all aspects of mental health, including prevention, risk mitigation, and care. CAMH suggests that elements of a mental health strategy include:

Training should focus on general information, not skills training, and be mandatory for all levels of management/leadership, including middle management.

Employers should conduct a comprehensive needs assessment to determine their employees' mental health needs and barriers. Employers should consider delivery, access, and inclusivity of services and supports.

Employers need to ensure they have a return to work process in place for when employees return from a leave due to mental health, not just physical health. CAMH lists best practices for your organization, which may include:

Business leaders and employers should track utilization and mental health outcomes across employee groups. This will help identify discrimination and barriers that the employer can productively address. Using data can help make your workplace safer and healthier for employees. CAMH notes that data to consider includes:

Employers have a duty to accommodate disabilities in the workplace, many of which encompass mental health. It is important to ensure policies and training are in place to ensure those in leadership properly address these issues and foster a safe, healthy environment for all.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

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Is Your Business Addressing Mental Health? - Mondaq News Alerts