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The workplace has an important influence on a person’s mental health and well-being. It’s now accepted that the workplace can affect a person’s mental health on an every day basis, through their interactions and relationships at work. Employers can help to create a psychologically healthy workplace that promotes positive mental health and well-being for everyone. Key elements to address are stressors such as harassment, bullying, work overload or lack of control over work.
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Click the tabs for steps you can take.
Employers can create a health-supporting workplace through policy approaches.
Develop a Mental Health and Well-being Policy that is appropriate and relevant to your workplace. Such a policy could include:
- Recognition that a healthy, safe and supportive working environment can positively affect mental well-being, and in turn both creativity and productivity
- Creating and maintaining working environments that are engaging, inclusive of a variety of ideas and perspectives, and where responsibilities are shared appropriately
- Treating all individuals with respect, equality and openness
- Reducing or removing barriers to workers’ participation in personal and organizational development opportunities
- Create a statement about the organization’s commitment to a workplace that supports mental health and well-being and actions to be taken
- Ensure workers know about the policy and include it in new employee orientation
- The Road to Psychological Safety is a voluntary standard focused on promoting employees’ psychological health and preventing psychological harm due to workplace factors. Published by the Mental Health Commission of Canada (2013)
- Antidepressant Skills @ Work- Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addiction and BC Mental Health & Addiction Services (2007)
- Mental Health in the Workplace - Healthy Work, Canadian Cancer Society (2017)
- Reducing Work-Life Conflict: What Works? What Doesn't? – Health Canada (2008)
- Guarding Minds at Work 2.0: A Workplace Guide to Psychological Safety and Health - Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addiction.
Existing programs designed to support individuals include:
- Individually-directed health promotion and self-help initiatives such as Living Life to the Full and Bounce Back: Reclaim Your Health (Canadian Mental Health Association)
- Sign up for the Healthy Workplaces workplace health program to access the Healthy Minds Module, which provides education materials, activity ideas and policy suggestions.
Employers can create a health-supporting workplace. Here are some ideas:
- Use Guarding Minds at Work 2.0: A Workplace Guide to Psychological Safety and Health to assess and address psychological risk factors in the workplace environment
- Offer employee support for dealing with significant change in management, high staff turnover or changes in working conditions
- Include psychological support (i.e. counselling services or the services of a psychologist/psychiatrist) as part of the benefits package offered to employees
- Provide a quiet space or sick room
- Offer workshops, lunch & learn sessions and training to raise awareness and reduce the stigma of mental illness, and to help managers and employees address workplace stress