Keeping workplace stress in check is a job perfectly suited to the four-legged set, or at least that’s the hope of a few enterprising petting zoos and some companies. Organizations such as Squeals on Wheels, a mobile petting zoo in Potomac, Md., bring animals into workplaces for employees to cuddle, pet and hold as a break from […]
How employees react to stress has a bigger impact on total health than the condition itself, according to a new report from Morneau Shepell Ltd. “Stress itself is not something that is good or bad — it is merely a demand on physical or mental energy,” said Bill Howatt, chief research and development officer for workplace […]
Commercial landlord Cadillac Fairview Corp. Ltd. is hoping to list the spirits of employees in Toronto with pop-up puppy parks in several of its downtown Toronto properties. The middle Monday in January is known as the most dreary day of the year due to the the gloomy weather, post-holiday blahs and pile of unfulfilled New Year’s resolutions. […]
The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board is expanding its work-related mental-stress policy following decisions at the appeals tribunal that found the limits currently placed on entitlement criteria are unconstitutional. Over the last few years, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal has issued several decisions that determined the provisions in the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act limiting entitlement only […]
Poor financial well-being is a growing problem, impacting Canadian employees’ on-the-job performance, health and absenteeism rates, according to a new survey by Willis Towers Watson. Its survey found that 23 per cent of respondents identified themselves as struggling. Among that group, almost half said that worries about finances were preventing them from performing their best at work. More than […]
From lack of sleep to post-traumatic stress disorders, employees facing a range of challenges that can have an impact on their work. What are some of the causes of mental-health issues and how can employers recognize when an employee is having difficulties? At the 2017 Mental Health Summit in Toronto on Nov. 7, experts provided […]
Despite mental health accounting for more than 30 per cent of long-term disability claims, there’s a disconnect between medical practitioners and insurers that unwittingly impedes the ability of plan members to receive timely care. Samuel Mikail, senior consultant for mental health at Sun Life Financial, told attendees at Benefits Canada’s 2017 Mental Health Summit in […]
When it comes to workplace wellness, health and wealth must go hand in hand, according to a speaker at the recent Mental Health Summit in Toronto. Eric Pfeiffer, a senior health management consultant at Manulife Financial Corp., told attendees at the Nov. 7 event that dealing with financial fitness is similar to dealing with mental […]
Between trouble sleeping, chronic insomnia and sleep apnea, three-quarters of Canadians sleep less than the recommended seven hours a night. “These sleep-deprived people show up to work but suffer from serious presenteeism,” Josée Dixon, executive vice-president of group and business insurance at Desjardins Insurance, told attendees at Benefits Canada’s 2017 Mental Health Summit in Toronto […]
With mental illness the leading cause of disability in Canada, early detection and treatment offer the best and perhaps only chance of a full recovery. That was a key message from Dr. Jeffrey Habert, assistant professor at the University of Toronto’s department of family and community medicine, during a session at Benefits Canada’s 2017 Mental […]