Employers are seeing rising numbers of mental health claims from their workers with these worker compensation claims set to double by 2030. This huge increase in mental health-related also means extra costs for employers and insurers. if recent trends continue, costs could triple in real terms.
It is estimated that 3.5 million Australians have mild to moderate mental health issues. The impacts in the past few years from COVID-related disruptions, job instability and working from home have led to unprecedented declines in employee mental health and well-being.
It has become more apparent that businesses need to invest in the well-being of employers to improve productivity and improve workers’ mental health. Employers have a duty of care not just for the physical safety of workers but must also recognise the importance of psychological health.
CEDA (Committee for Economic Development of Australia) has released a new Mental health and the workplace report which advocated that businesses must practical measures that are proven to improve mental health outcomes. These outcomes include:
- Employees have control over their job design (access to support, feedback and learning opportunities.
- Training managers to identify and monitor mental health problems and respond accordingly to staff who need extra support and job modifications
- Develop and roll out organisation-wide mental health strategies
If employers implement these processes now as a business strategy, this could prevent potential mental health-related claims and improve overall outcomes for current mental health claims.
Source: Ceda (Committee for Economic Development of Australia)
Title: Workplace face escalating mental health claims without action
Read time: 2mins