When employees at Accenture begin a gender transition, they have access to a comprehensive suite of benefits. In 2011, the global consulting firm became one of the first companies in Canada to cover costs related to transitioning. Zoya Zayler, inclusion and diversity lead for Canada, says the organization worked with its benefits provider to design a fulsome and customizable […]
The weekend is short enough, but if a new survey by Robert Half International is any indication, it’s getting shorter. The survey found Sunday evenings are eating into Canadians’ remaining weekend time, as 38 per cent of workers reported having the “Sunday Scaries,” the anxiety felt the night before the start of the workweek. The cause of this […]
Employees at Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. are giving Unifor’s bargaining team a strong mandate to take strike action, if necessary, in the quest for a fair contract. The provisions of the contract include mental-health days, domestic violence leave and part-time hours, says Dan Bailey, national representative for Unifor. “We’re focusing in on mental health in the workplace, […]
A growing body of international evidence indicates education, prevention efforts and early intervention are critical to people’s mental health, according to a new study at the University of British Columbia. Mental-health efforts are taking place “across social systems and within organizational structures, including public health, educational institutions and workplaces,” noted the study, authored by Miranda Massie, a […]
The majority (80 per cent) of working Canadians reported their overall well-being would improve if their employer offered a personalized wellness program customized to their specific wellness and health-related interests and goals, according to a new survey by RBC Insurance. If they were offered this type of program, survey respondents also said they’d see improvements […]
Spectrum Therapeutics, the medical division of Canopy Growth Corp., is partnering with the Canadian Mental Health Association to develop an educational content module related to cannabis in the workplace. The module, which will be part of the CMHA’s workplace mental-health program Not Myself Today, will launch early next year. It will feature a number of physical […]
Almost all employers offer paramedical benefits for psychology and many are adopting programs to support employee mental health, according to a new survey by Aon. Canadian employers are increasingly realizing the individual and business risks that arise from mental-health issues. “While fewer than half of the employers we talked to identified mental health as a serious […]
Plan sponsors looking to improve their mental-health benefits should consider offering online psychotherapy treatment programs for members, says Peter Gove, former innovation leader in health management at Green Shield Canada. “Just increasing the amount of coverage is a good thing, but probably insufficient,” he says. “The problem with just increasing the level of coverage is […]
Compared with people who don’t access employer-provided employee assistance programs, Canadians who use the services have increased workplace engagement, as well as reduced presenteeism and distress at work, according to a study published last month in the U.S.-based Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health. The study, which looked at the causal effects of Arete Human Resources Inc.’s EAPs on mental […]
Canada’s national standard for psychological health and safety in the workplace provides employers with benchmarks they can measure themselves against. Would making it mandatory improve employer uptake, or impose unnecessary and duplicate regulations? Brian Gottheil, human resource advisor and lawyer at Bernardi Human Resource Law LLP: The national standard helps employers proactively assess and improve their […]