As the Canadian Mental Health Association states:
“Mental Health is more than mental illness. It’s more than being happy all the time. It’s about feeling good about who you are, having balance in your life, and managing life’s highs and lows. Everyone deserves to feel well, whatever their mental health experience. And we all need a support system to lean on”
The first week of October is recognized throughout Canada as Mental Health Awareness Week. It is important you feel that your workplace promotes mental health and wellness for the better of their employees. It is a known fact that the better mental health awareness is promoted in the workplace, the better workers perform (in efficiency and quality of work). Facing a superior who is ignorant to mental health issues, management and promotion can make filing a disability claim more difficult, let alone poison workplace conditions and increase disability claims.
The Facts
According to the Government of Canada, employers are responsible for protecting the health and safety of their employees. There are several ways in which your workplace can strategize for mental health awareness.
- 30% of Canadian disability claims (for short-term disability and long-term disability) are related to mental health issues and mental illness
- 1/2 a million Canadian workers do not attend work, weekly, due to mental health issues
- 1 in 5 Canadians experiencing mental health issues or mental illness each year
- Canada spends a total of $50 billion/year on managing mental health issues and illness
- Employers lose roughly $6 billion dollars a year due to lost productivity, absenteeism, and turnover
When employees engage in a workplace that is not proactive in maintaining the mental health of its workers, there are detrimental outcomes that can reflect on the business, let alone the personal effect it has on the workers themselves. There is an increase in:
– absenteeism
– grievances
– medical leave
– disability claims
– workplace injuries
– health related costs
The benefits of a psychologically healthy workplace will reduce all of the negative effects of mental health negligence, while bettering areas such as:
– engagement
– morale
– productivity
– employee and employer satisfaction
– retention and recruitment
Workplace Strategies
There are several known and effective ways a workplace can practice mental health awareness and tactics for maintaining the psychological safety of their employees. Important areas to consider include:
- Individual awareness
- Education for leaders
- Promotion of external resources (Ex. Counseling Services)
- Healthy break activities
- Stress management
- Regular engagement
Employment and Social Development of Canada promotes a list titled the “Top 8 Practices:What can you do to help?” for mental health.
- Support employee participation and decision making throughout the workplace
- Define all employee duties and responsibilities to promote clarity and purpose
- Promote a work-life balance, avoiding things such as overwork, stress and boredom
- Encourage respectful behaviors
- Manage workloads and responsibilities
- Provide proper training, as well as learning opportunities for growth (whether be occupational or personal)
- Have conflict resolution practices in place
- Recognize employees’ contributions effectively
It is important that employers acknowledge how important their workers are for success and sustainability of their businesses. There are many different ways an employer can acknowledge and promote mental health awareness in the workplace. When resources are needed, there are many private and government services that can provide employers with educational material and on-sight consulting to increase mental health awareness. An example of such is Workplace Safety & Prevention Services (WSPS). This organization was founded after the Industrial Accident Prevention Association, Ontario Service Safety Alliance and Farm Safety Association all merged to form Ontario’s largest health and safety association.
The WSPS offers services in training employers and employees on mental health and safety, as well as help organizations and businesses integrate better health and safety awareness (including both physical and mental health) in the workplace. They supply a bountiful amount of information and resources, and host several networking events which outline legislative health and safety requirements.
Contacting a Toronto Disability Lawyer
It is important that employers properly asses their workplace for all hazards, whether be physical or psychological. This will ensure a proper plan to address and mitigate these hazards, and for proper health and safety to be intact in the workplace.
It is the employer’s responsibility to ensure proper mental health and safety, including awareness of such, within the workplace. Negligence to do so can overlook major hazards which can be detrimental to workers and increase risks of harm within the workplace.
If your employer has fostered a workplace environment that is not promoting proper mental health and wellness, or if you are facing a reprisal as a result of filing a mental health disability claim, it is important you speak with a disability lawyer as soon as possible. By seeking legal council, you will gain access to a better understanding of your legal rights and your eligibility to file for short-term disability or long-term disability due to your mental health issue or illness. TSF Law is a legal firm that has successfully represented many clients who are filing or have filed mental health claims due to poisonous work environments. We understand the sensitivity needed when it comes to mental health insurance claims and we pride ourselves in being one of the best disability claim firms in Ontario.
Contact us today, we offer free legal consultations over the phone or in person. Our firm is equipped with extensive knowledge in personal-injury, long-term-disability, insurance claims, and denied claims.
