{"id":244728,"date":"2022-10-31T15:19:54","date_gmt":"2022-10-31T15:19:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/azur.skilledworker.com\/?p=244728"},"modified":"2022-10-31T15:20:09","modified_gmt":"2022-10-31T15:20:09","slug":"building-your-employee-wellness-and-mental-health-offerings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/azur.skilledworker.com\/building-your-employee-wellness-and-mental-health-offerings\/","title":{"rendered":"Building your Employee Wellness and Mental Health Offerings"},"content":{"rendered":"
Over the past decade, mental health has become an increasingly integral part of workplace discourse, merely owing to personal wellness cutting to the very core of what any person wants: to be happy. Despite the constant stressors of COVID-19 weighing upon them, employers continued to strive to create positive work environments, offering benefits to improve mental health and advance employee wellness.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The consulting firm Buck found that 68% of employers have expanded their wellness offerings<\/a>. However, it seems that employees are looking for more; only 51% reported feeling that their employer is more focused on wellness, while 28% felt that their mental health benefits were useful. With such a surprisingly large disparity between what employers have done to improve employee wellness and how employees have felt their wellness has improved, we can look at some of the more popular benefits to determine how to close the gap.<\/p>\n With Toronto aiming at bringing its employees back to the office this year, the City is looking to make sure that said return unfolds as smoothly as possible<\/a>. One way it is doing that is by continuing the mental health benefits it added during the onset of the Pandemic. The City of Toronto offers mental health benefits of up to $1000 per year, a drop-in wellness series, as well as increased lieu time and a list of mental-health resources. These specific wellness benefits are also merged with efforts to change the very nature of their workday to benefit the mental health of employees, with the City looking to implement a type of \u201ccooling-off period\u201d. When such extensive working time is spent on communication, Toronto is looking to limit how many emails are sent to employees all day. This is reminiscent of the recent Right to Disconnect<\/a> law that was passed in Ontario.<\/p>\n The City of Toronto\u2019s Wellness plan is something that employers should consider a great example of what can be done for their employees\u2019 mental health. Therapy can be expensive<\/a>, and can clock in at around $150 per hour. Mental health benefits, such as the $1000 Toronto offers, can go a long way in booking Therapy sessions. Of course, by taking a holistic look at wellness and limiting unnecessary communication, the City goes a step further. Their employees can now focus on the most meaningful part of their work, allowing everyone to benefit.<\/p>\nThe City of Toronto\u2019s 2022 Wellness Plan<\/h3>\n
Other Successful Employer Mental Health Strategies<\/h3>\n