Mental distress costs billions: Canadian companies are paying on average 14 per cent of their bottom line in lost productivity due to mental health-related sick leave, disability and replacement costs.

Lost productivity in the workplace due to mental illness is costing Canadian businesses billions of dollars a year, states a 2002 Health Canada report.

One in five Canadians experience a mental illness throughout his or her lifetime. Consequently, the loss of productivity costs nearly 14 per cent of the net annual profits of Canadian companies, or up to $16 billion annually.

Donna Hardaker is the manager of Mental Health Works, an initiative of the Canadian Mental Health Association. She says addressing mental health disorders or problems in the workplace can save employers or unions a lot of money in the long run. Consider human rights complaints, the potential loss of a valued employee, sick leave, disability and replacement costs, she says.

In Canada, employers and unions are required to make every reasonable effort, short of undue hardship, to accommodate an employee who comes under a protected ground of discrimination within human rights legislation, according to the Ontario Human Rights Commission. Those who experience mental illnesses or disorders tend not to disclose their condition to their employer for fear of discrimination, stereotyping or losing their job.

Consequently, Mental Health Works has developed a variety of workshops to provide employers, employees and union officials with the tools they need to address mental disorders in the workplace. With 30 trainers across the country, the workshops range from one-hour to all-day sessions.

Most of the training programs have been in effect for two years. Within this short running time, one program called Working It Out: A Manager's Guide to Mental Health and Accommodation in the Workplace, received the 2005 Canadian Award for Training Excellence.

Mental illness (disorder) is considered a disability with medical proof from a physician. A diagnosis can occur if symptoms persist and impair functioning for more than three weeks.

Four known risk factors exist: genetics, trauma, personal and workplace stress.

Mental Health Works focuses on workplace stress, which can encompass mental disorders or mental health problems, which tend to be more situational.

"We primarily help managers deal more effectively with their employees in all interactions, particularly when an employee is in distress," Hadakar says.

The program is based upon four pillars.

The first teaches managers how to pay attention to changes in an employee's behaviour or productivity. This allows them to step back and think twice about signs and symptoms, instead of reacting in a disciplinary manner.

"Many times managers have risen to their position out of expertise in their area, not necessarily because they have the people skills," Hardaker says, so many struggle dealing with an employee in distress.

The second pillar teaches how to express concern through what they have noticed and linking it to productivity.

The third is the offer of accommodation.

"Every time an employee has a performance issue and you've had to talk to them about it, always offer that help."

The fourth pillar focuses on solutions and identifying the needs of the employee.

Adjustment to schedule is the most common accommodation for people with mental health issues. Many times managers don't know how to apply the accommodation policies they've learned. The workshops address these areas and opening the channels of communication between employees and their employers.

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The reaction for the training has been "overwhelmingly positive."

At the end of the workshop, managers can take back practical solutions to employee issues," Hardakar says. "It's a huge relief we see on their faces."

Charlotte MacFarlane, Mental Health Works certified trainer for the Cochrane-Timiskaming region, has been providing workshops over the past year.

She says Northern businesses face different challenges than their southern Ontario counterparts. Smaller organizations are already performing to capacity, and they have little time to take a workshop despite the fact they provide practical solutions "based soundly in theory, fact and evidence.

"Part of the challege is getting the word out and getting the issue on people's radar."

Mental Health Works is an initiative of the Canadian Mental Health Association.

www.mentalhealthworks.ca

By ADELLE LARMOUR

Northern Ontario Business