Manulife Financial recently released a report that examined lost employee productivity due to health-related issues. This study was based on the responses from 4,700 employees across 159 organizations that had a group benefits plan with Manulife.
Although Manulife conducted this survey among their own group benefits plan sponsors, it is safe to say that these results would be typical among Canadian companies with any benefits provider.
Overview of Findings
The study found that health challenges have a substantial, negative impact on work productivity as well as employee welfare. Only 3% of productivity loss was caused by absences due to health issues, while a whopping 19% of productivity loss was due to health-related issues such as stress, burnout and mental fatigue (which occurs while employees are at work).
This translates to approximately 46 days of lost production per employee per year!
Mental Health Issues
In particular, mental health was found to play a major role in lost productivity. The following are some of the Wellness Report’s findings:
- 80% of respondents said their job contributes to their mental health
- 57% said they have experienced burnout at some point during their job duties
- 57% said mental health challenges affected their job performances
- 19% considered mental fatigue to be the biggest challenge to overcome
- Over 50% experienced poor sleeping habits
- 32% said they didn’t have enough free time for exercise
Role of Group Benefits
This study’s findings make it apparent that a robust group benefits plan can and should be used to help employees deal with various mental health issues.
Employers need to make benefits programs more accessible and available to their employees. Many workers are not even aware of the mental health tools available to them via their benefits plan.
This is a win-win situation for everyone. Employees will be happier, and employers will reap the benefits of this via increased productivity!
Communication is key – it is more and more important for all employers to let their employees know what resources they have around mental health services.
Relevant Manulife Group Benefits Coverage
The following are some group benefit programs that can help employees deal with mental health issues:
- Counselling and Mental Health Services: Programs that help employees find a qualified mental health professional that best suits their personal situation.
- EFAP (Employee and Family Assistance Program): this provides a wide variety of counselling services for the insured (including family members) such as nutritional advice, legal services, relationship and career counselling and even possible financial assistance.
- Online healthcare advice that is available 24/7.
- Personalized Medicine Program: uses advanced pharmacogenetic testing to determine the most effective medications and treatments on an employee-by-employee basis.
- Women and Family Health Services: services designed to help women and families deal with issues such as fertility, family planning, care of newborns, pediatrics and parenting.
These types of services are available in most Manulife plans and all Canadian group benefit providers have some level of coverage around mental health issues.
How We Can Help
More and more employers are looking for ways to mitigate mental health issues in the workplace and may not be aware of what they already have. We can help. With a free, no cost or obligation audit of your current group insurance we can help discover the benefits you may not know you already have or recommend simple adjustments that can improve productivity in your workplace. Or if necessary, we can overhaul your benefits program to optimize the benefits available to help you enjoy the fruits of a happier, healthier workforce.
It doesn’t matter who your coverage is with, if you would like more information on how to mitigate mental health issues in the workplace then please reach out and contact us, we are here to help!
