EMPLOYEES MENTAL HEALTH
AND
WELL BEING
Work & Mental Health
Work and mental health are closely intertwined. A safe and healthy working
environment supports mental health, and good mental health enables people to work
productively.
An unsafe or unhealthy working environment can undermine mental health, and poor
mental health can interfere with a person’s ability to work if left unsupported.
Globally, 15% of working-age adults live with a mental disorder.
Without effective structures and support in place, and despite a willingness to work, the
impact of unsupported mental health conditions can affect self-confidence, enjoyment at
work, capacity to work, absences and ability to gain employment.
Carers and family members are similarly affected.
Work can protect mental health
All workers have the right to a safe and healthy environment at work.
Decent work supports good mental health by providing a livelihood; a sense of
confidence, purpose and achievement; an opportunity for positive relationships and
inclusion in a community; and a platform for structured routines, among many other
benefits.
For people with mental health conditions, decent work can contribute to recovery and
inclusion, improve confidence and social functioning.
Safe and healthy working environments are not only a fundamental right but are also
more likely to minimize tension and conflicts at work and improve staff retention, work
performance and productivity.
Risks to mental health at work
At work, risks to mental health, also called psychosocial risks, may be related to job content or
work schedule, specific characteristics of the workplace or opportunities for career development
among other things.
Risks to mental health at work can include
•under-use of skills or being under-skilled for work;
•excessive workloads or work pace, understaffing;
•long, unsocial or inflexible hours;
•lack of control over job design or workload;
•unsafe or poor physical working conditions;
Risks to mental health at work
•organizational culture that enables negative behaviors;
•limited support from colleagues or authoritarian supervision;
•violence, harassment or bullying;
•discrimination and exclusion;
•unclear job role;
•under- or over-promotion;
•job insecurity, inadequate pay, or poor investment in career development; and
•conflicting home/work demands.
Action for mental health at work
Government, employers, the organizations which represent workers and employers, and
other stakeholders responsible for workers’ health and safety can help to improve mental
health at work through action to:
•prevent work-related mental health conditions by preventing the risks to mental health at
work;
•protect and promote mental health at work;
•support workers with mental health conditions to participate and thrive in work; and
•create an enabling environment for change.
Action to address mental health at work should be done with the meaningful
involvement of workers and their representatives, and persons with lived experience of
mental health conditions.
Prevent work-related mental health conditions
Preventing mental health conditions at work is about managing psychosocial risks in
the workplace.
WHO recommends employers do this by implementing organizational interventions
that directly target working conditions and environments.
Organizational interventions are those that assess, and then mitigate, modify or remove
workplace risks to mental health.
Organizational interventions include, for example, providing flexible working
arrangements, or implementing frameworks to deal with violence and harassment at
work.
Protect and promote mental health at work
To protect mental health, WHO recommends:
•Manager training for mental health, which helps managers recognize and respond to
supervisees experiencing emotional distress; builds interpersonal skills like open
communication and active listening; and fosters better understanding of how job
stressors affect mental health and can be managed;
•Training for workers in mental health literacy and awareness, to improve knowledge of
mental health and reduce stigma against mental health conditions at work; and
•Interventions for individuals to build skills to manage stress and reduce mental health
symptoms, including psychosocial interventions and opportunities for leisure-based
physical activity.
Support people with mental health conditions to participate in and thrive at
work
People living with mental health conditions have a right to participate in work fully and
fairly.
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities provides an international
agreement for promoting the rights of people with disabilities (including psychosocial
disabilities), including at work.
WHO recommends three interventions to support people with mental health conditions
gain, sustain and participate in work:
1. Reasonable accommodations
2. Return-to-work programmes
3. Supported employment initiatives
Create an enabling environment for change
•Leadership and commitment to mental health at work.
Example by integrating mental health at work into relevant policies.
•Investment of sufficient funds and resources.
Example by establishing dedicated budgets for actions to improve mental health at work and
making mental health and employment services available to lower-resourced enterprises.
•Rights to participate in work.
Example by aligning employment laws and regulations with international human rights
instruments and implementing non-discrimination policies at work.
Create an enabling environment for change
•Integration of mental health at work across sectors.
Example by embedding mental health into existing systems for occupational safety and health.
•Participation of workers in decision-making.
Example by holding meaningful and timely consultations with workers, their representatives and
people with lived experience of mental health conditions.
•Evidence on psychosocial risks and effectiveness of interventions.
Example by ensuring that all guidance and action on mental health at work is based on the latest
evidence.
•Compliance with laws, regulations and recommendations.
Example by integrating mental health into the responsibilities of national labour inspectorates
and other compliance mechanisms.
EMPloyees mental health and Occupational WEllbeing
progRamme (EMPOWER)
TATA Electronics Private Limited
Hosur, Tamil Nadu
The Programme
Partners Duration Reach
NIMHANS- All Employees
36 Months
TEPL of TEPL
EMPOWER Clinic
Initial Assessment Referrals – Walk-In, OHC, HRs, Supervisors
Mental health treatment & follow-up
Psychotherapy and brief counselling Reasons – IPR issues, Family issues, MH issues
Telephonic follow-up
Diagnosis – Z60, Z63, Z73, Z81, Z91, MH Disorders
24/7 Crisis helpline
Awareness and Capacity Building Programs
Awareness Building Capacity Building
Mental Health Literacy
Reproductive health training
Stress management
Psychological First Aid
Suicide literacy
Gatekeepers training
Yoga training
Suicide prevention training
Substance use prevention
Leadership skills
Family life education
Life skills training
Financial literacy
Personal hygiene
Others
Parental forum
Observation of special days/months
Corporate social responsibility
Prenatal and postnatal mental health care
Nutrition and sleep
Work life balance
OUTCOMES CHALLENGES
• Prioritization of mental health care needs by the
employees
• Intensive production demands limit employee
• Significant reduction in self harm cases
participation
• Reduced stigma associated with mental health
• Constrained Adaptation
• Enhanced help seeking behaviour of the
• Workplace culture
employees
• Encountering obstacles in corporate adaption
• Significant increase in walk-in and referrals
cases
• Hierarchy hinders senior official from seeking
• Enhanced self-worth, productivity and better
assistance
quality of life.
