The Mental Health of Employees

Hogan Injury reports:

"Businesses should always consider their employees’ overall well-being. An employee’s health is a big factor that affects their productivity and capacity to interact with other employees to facilitate teamwork within an organization. A worker’s physical health is important since it plays a big role when it comes to doing physical tasks at work[;] being physically fit also means that employees are not going to miss a day of work because of sickness. Determining the status of a person’s physical health is quite easy and often the primary concern of many employers[;] mental health, on the other hand, is harder to detect but can cause dire consequences not just to the employee but their employers as well. Risks for physical harm inside the workplace are easily seen, and workplace accidents can be prevented by taking the proper precautions. However, there are also a lot of risk factors for mental health that can be found in working environments. These mental health risks are mostly connected to the interaction between people within the organization. An example of this is when an employee feels...bullied or singled out in the office. Some mental health risks are related to the skills and competencies of an employee or the support they receive from the business they work for. For instance, an employee was given a project that fits their skill set, but if the company refuses to provide this employee with the resources to finish the project, that could affect the mental health of the employee. Mental health risks inside the workplace may also be connected to an employee’s actual job. Consistent overloading of work or assigning tasks that are unsuitable to an employee’s skill set can have a huge impact. Some jobs inherently have higher personal risks than others, [such as] being a doctor or a firefighter[,] for example. These jobs often take a toll because lives of other people are at stake, leading...people in these professions to resort to harmful coping mechanisms like alcohol abuse or the use of psychoactive drugs. Employers should start thinking about creating a healthier workplace if they want to sustain good productivity among their employees and to reduce staff turnover. Happier employees tend to stay with the company they are working for and could be beneficial for any business...in the long run, especially workflows that require expertise that is built over time. A healthy workplace is one where employees and managers work together to create a working environment that is conducive to ideas that can help accomplish business goals. For employees suffering from mental health issues because of work, you may be able to file a claim on your workers’ compensation insurance. You would have to prove that the cause of your mental conditions...your work and would need a lawyer with expertise in workers’ compensation cases. If your condition is caused by a physical accident or illness that you sustained because of work, then your chances of getting compensation become higher. An example of this is post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. If you developed PTSD because of an accident in the workplace, you might be eligible for compensation."