A Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) report, The Aspiring Workforce, finds that up to 90% of Canadians living with serious mental illnesses are unemployed.
Absenteeism cost the Canadian economy more than $16 billion last year and an effective disability management program can help mitigate those costs.
Bird flu was headline news in 2009. That year tested Paula Allen’s resolve in a way that would shape her approach to workplace mental health and disability management.
September marks the start of Arthritis Awareness Month.
While the income protection of short- term disability (STD) benefits is an essential component of group benefits programs, there is growing concern whether these benefits will be sustainable in the future. But there is a solution: change the way the benefit is administered.
When a company name is associated with healthcare, is there more pressure to practise what it preaches when it comes to supporting its own employees’ good health? Basil Rowe, Shoppers Drug Mart’s vice-president, total rewards and shared services, describes the motivation as more of a keen desire to have internal best-in-class programs that reflect Shoppers’ external customer care business model. “We want to demonstrate to our employees that their well-being is important to us,” he says.
A U.S. study on disability management for behaviour conditions has shown than case management results in cost savings and fewer sick days for employers.
Arthritis is a debilitating condition that can affect people at any age. According to the Fit for Work Survey conducted by The Arthritis Society, one in three respondents reported that they stopped working because of their arthritis.
Right now, there are employees at workplaces across Canada who may be at risk of absence and disability. They could be coping with physical or mental health issues, personal concerns or unresolved issues with a work colleague or supervisor. Mental health problems alone are estimated to cost employers about $20 billion a year, according to Statistics Canada. Add to this the fact that the average employee reported the equivalent of 9.3 days in work time lost for personal reasons in 2011, and the picture of lost productivity becomes a bitter pill to swallow.
After a decade of steady increases in the incidence and number of days lost to illness and disability, the Conference Board of Canada’s 2009 Employer-Sponsored Benefit Programs Survey estimates that $7.4 billion is lost to workplace absenteeism in Canada each year.