Launch of Public Consultation on Guidelines on Providing Support for Employees with Mental Health Conditions

On 1 October 2024, the Workplace Safety and Health Council (“Council“) launched a public consultation on the draft Guidelines on Providing Support for Employees with and at-risk of Mental Health Conditions (“Guidelines“). The consultation closed on 31 October 2024.

The Guidelines employ a Mental Health Continuum Model, which envisages three categories of “Healthy”, “At-risk” and “Un-well”. Targeted at senior management, supervisors and Human Resource personnel, it provides tips on supporting employees in the latter two categories and reintegrating them into the workplace upon recovery. Such tips include:

  1. nurturing a supportive mental wellbeing workplace culture by complying with workplace fairness legislation and minimising stigma against mental health conditions;
  2. establishing a system to refer employees to professional help, and training employees to spot signs of distress or deviation from normal behaviours; and
  3. establishing a return-to-work system to help employees reintegrate after their recovery.

The Guidelines also highlight the advantages of supporting employees with mental health conditions, such as improvements in productivity alongside reductions in absenteeism and costs associated with retraining and hiring. For every $1 invested in workplace adjustments to support such employees, there was an average return in investment of $5.60.

When issued, the Guidelines will complement the Tripartite Advisory on Mental Health and Well-being at Workplaces and the Playbook on Workplace Mental Well-being, which generally focus on keeping employees in the “Healthy” category.


 

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