The prevalence of mental health disorders inside Canadian workplace might be more than sixty percent higher than the typical population, says a Conference Board of Canada report called Healthy Brains at Work: The Footprint of Mental Health Conditions. The detailed report was launched on May 22, 2015.
"Mental health insurance and mental illness have fallen out in the shadows and moved into Canadian spaces
and board rooms as a result of many awareness campaigns," said Carole Stonebridge, Senior Associate Researcher and co-author from the report. "However, in Canadian workplaces the stigma of mental illness persists and employers tend to be ill equipped to manage employee mental health problems. Given the effect on working Canadians and charges for businesses, this really is cause for concern."
The Mental Health Commission of Canada reports that approximately 4.2 million employed Canadians experience a mental illness. In this group, approximately 279,000 individuals have a psychological or mental disability that limits their day to day activities. Even though tools and resources on mental illness are for sale to employers, researchers have no idea of how much employers access them.
The Mental Health Commission of Canada reports that 30 % of all short-term and long-term disability claims in Canada matched to mental illness, along with the cost ranges from $15 to $33 billion annually. A 2012 Conference Board of Canada report estimated that mental illness costs $20 billion annually through absenteeism and presenteeism (coming to work while ill).
Report highlights:
"This profile of mental health in Canada reveals that mental
illness is much more common from the workplace than ever imagined as well as the potential costs to employers might be significant," said Stonebridge. The report would be the first within a four part series that investigates value of addressing mental health problems in Canadian workplaces.
"Mental health insurance and mental illness have fallen out in the shadows and moved into Canadian spaces
and board rooms as a result of many awareness campaigns," said Carole Stonebridge, Senior Associate Researcher and co-author from the report. "However, in Canadian workplaces the stigma of mental illness persists and employers tend to be ill equipped to manage employee mental health problems. Given the effect on working Canadians and charges for businesses, this really is cause for concern."
The Mental Health Commission of Canada reports that approximately 4.2 million employed Canadians experience a mental illness. In this group, approximately 279,000 individuals have a psychological or mental disability that limits their day to day activities. Even though tools and resources on mental illness are for sale to employers, researchers have no idea of how much employers access them.
The Mental Health Commission of Canada reports that 30 % of all short-term and long-term disability claims in Canada matched to mental illness, along with the cost ranges from $15 to $33 billion annually. A 2012 Conference Board of Canada report estimated that mental illness costs $20 billion annually through absenteeism and presenteeism (coming to work while ill).
Report highlights:
"This profile of mental health in Canada reveals that mental
illness is much more common from the workplace than ever imagined as well as the potential costs to employers might be significant," said Stonebridge. The report would be the first within a four part series that investigates value of addressing mental health problems in Canadian workplaces.