Awareness of mental\nhealth has been growing and expanding in recent years, with good reason. Last\nyear the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that around 45% of\nAustralian\u2019s between the ages of 16 and 85 will experience a mental health\ncondition at some point in their lives. These statistics mean almost everyone\nin today\u2019s society will either be directly or indirectly affected by a mental\nhealth condition, making it a serious problem. But is it an employer\u2019s problem?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The answer is an\noverwhelming yes, mental health in the workplace is an employer\u2019s problem and\nit is a critical part of managing a modern workforce. Not only are employers\nlegally required to ensure the mental health and wellbeing of their employees,\nbut there are also clear economic benefits in doing so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nLaw<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Whilst it is well\naccepted that employers are required to provide a safe, healthy and productive\nworkplace for their employees, what generally springs to mind regarding this is\nthe requirement to ensure the physical wellbeing of their employees. However,\nthe same requirements apply in relation to the psychological wellbeing of employees.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Employers around\nAustralia are required by workplace health and safety (WHS<\/strong>) legislation\nto ensure, as far as reasonably practicable, that the work carried on by the\nbusiness does not put the health and safety of workers, or others, at risk. In WHS\nlegislation, \u2018health\u2019 is defined to mean both physical and psychological\nhealth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n At common law,\nemployers owe a duty of care to their employees to take reasonable care to\navoid any conduct that could be reasonably foreseen to cause harm or injury to\nthe employee. It has been accepted that the employer has a duty towards their employees\nregarding psychological injuries and this requires employers to take reasonably\npracticable steps not to cause risk to an employee\u2019s mental health. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Mental illness is\nalso classified as a disability under the Anti-Discrimination\nAct 1977<\/em> (NSW) and Disability\nDiscrimination Act 1992 <\/em>(Cth). Employers are required to make reasonable\nadjustments in the workplace to accommodate mental illness or else be liable\nfor discrimination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Failure by the\nemployer to adequately manage and respond to mental health concerns in the\nworkplace can lead to a range of claims by employees including workers\ncompensation claims, claims for damages and disability discrimination claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Managing\nand Promoting Mental Health in the Workplace<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Positive mental\nhealth is now recognised as affecting more than just our mood, but also\nimpacting our productivity and success. It is no surprise then that mental\nillness in the workplace is associated with higher levels of presenteeism,\nabsenteeism, and lower productivity. Research suggests there are clear economic\nand other benefits for employers to promote positive mental health in the\nworkplace as a means of increasing the performance of all staff. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A report published by\nPWC, Beyond Blue, the National Mental Health Commission and the Mentally\nHealthy Workplace Alliance, found that on average every $1 used to implement\nsuccessful mental health action benefits an organisation by $2.30. This was due\nto the reduced costs associated with high staff turnover, reduced sick leave\nabsences, avoidance of litigation and fines for breaches of WHS laws and\ngreater staff loyalty leading to a higher return on training investment. Also reducing\nmental health related presenteeism, absenteeism and workers compensation\nclaims, results in more productive hours per year for employees with mental\nhealth conditions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Though this\ndemonstrates the economic benefit of investing in mental health action, the\nquestion employers are sometimes faced with is whether it would be quicker,\neasier and more efficient to just dismiss employees that are perceived to be\nunderperforming, irrespective of the reasons that may underlie these\nperceptions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It is important to\nnote that employees may only be terminated from employment if the employee\ncannot perform the inherent requirements of the role. This consideration is made after any\n\u2018reasonable adjustments\u2019 are made to assist the employee. An adjustment is only unreasonable if it\ncauses \u2018unjustifiable hardship\u2019 to the employer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Employers should\nrecognise, therefore, that there is a baseline obligation to support employees\nthat are going through mental issues at work. \nIn any case, it is good business to do so. Apart from being unlawful under the Fair Work Act<\/em> 2009<\/em> (Cth) to\nterminate someone because of their mental health, and opening the employer up\nto a disability discrimination claim, the cost of performance managing employees\nwith mental health conditions, advertising the role, and then training the new\nemployee would likely far outweigh the cost of promoting a mentally healthy\nworkplace, particularly given how many people suffer from mental health\nconditions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Closing\nThoughts <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n No two employees are\nthe same and supporting their mental wellbeing can be a challenge for some\nmanagers and employers. It is essential that employers understand the scope of\ntheir duty and legal obligations and to ensure that the tools and support that\nare necessary to meet these obligations are in place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When promoting\npositive mental health, workplace culture really does matter. In addition to\ncomplying with their legal obligations, there are clear benefits for employers\nin promoting a mentally healthy workplace. If employers can provide healthy\nworkplaces and assist in addressing this issue, employers will have a happier\nmore productive workplace, employees will be better equipped to manage their\nmental health, and society as a whole will likely be better off.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Awareness of mental health has been growing and expanding in recent years, with good reason. Last year the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that around 45% of Australian\u2019s between the ages of 16 and 85 will experience a mental health condition at some point in their lives. These statistics mean almost everyone in today\u2019s society […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":1190,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[236],"tags":[171,173],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/workn.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1189"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/workn.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/workn.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/workn.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/workn.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1189"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/workn.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1191,"href":"https:\/\/workn.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1189\/revisions\/1191"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/workn.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/workn.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/workn.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/workn.net.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}