Building a Proactive Mental Health Strategy in the Workplace

What are best practices businesses and HR professionals can use to foster and maintain the mental wellbeing of employees? The answer to this question may be evolving. The rise in post-pandemic employees experiencing some type of mental health issue has prompted companies to audit the efficacy of their current employer-sponsored resources and assess alternative strategies to improve employee wellbeing. Some employers might view mental health resources as a reactionary tool in response to an employee in crisis. But a paradigm shift may be on the horizon. Preventive strategies and resources—designed to promote wellbeing and intervene early and often—are gaining traction. A recent article in ALM Benefits Pro suggests that such a shift may allow businesses to do well (increase their bottom line) while doing good (foster employee wellbeing).

Employee Assistance Programs (or EAPs) are the most common employer-sponsored resource. EAPs are voluntary benefits programs designed to provide resources for issues that arise in employees’ personal or professional lives that may impact their job, health, and mental wellbeing. According to the article, around 98% of mid to large businesses in the U.S. offer an EAP. Despite their universality, the reviews of EAPs are mixed. Some point out that EAPs offer much needed mental health resources and easy access to them through a person’s employer. Others have been critical of EAPs for low employee participation and delays in administration when an employee does participate. And as the article notes, EAPs typically are reactionary—treated like an emergency room for crises instead of a visit to the doctor for a routine checkup.

Proactive mental health resources and thoughtful strategy may have a twofold benefit: reducing employer costs associated with mental health crises and improving employee wellbeing by mitigating them. According the article, mental health-related issues can cost a business three to five times more than absentee-related costs. Encouraging employee time off—vacation, “mental health days,” and the like—particularly during times of higher-than-normal levels of stress or early signs of mental health issues may help curb full-blown mental crises for some employees while in turn lowering the costs to employers associated with those crises.  

Proactively fostering a workplace culture that destigmatizes mental health issues may also improve the handling of employee disabilities thereby mitigating legal risks. Management and HR trained not only on how to effectively engage with and accommodate employees experiencing mental health disabilities but also buying into the businesses culture of positivity towards mental health in general may add an extra layer of protection to avoid liability and exposure from lawsuits or administrative charges.   

The post-pandemic trends such as “quiet quitting” and “bare minimum Mondays” seem to be on the wane. A shift towards proactively addressing mental health in the workplace may inspire some employees who have checked out to buy back in. We will continue to monitor this critical workplace topic to offer business-focused strategies to help companies foster a healthy workforce and to comply with applicable law.