“I’m not my employees’ babysitter, their mommy, or their therapist,” the CEO insisted. The problem that led to his call—his company’s 2024 employee survey revealed large numbers of his company’s employees expected mental health benefits.
“What are these employees thinking?” he asked. “We offer a generous sick leave allowance and they’re asking for paid mental health days on top of that? Employees need to handle their own personal issues.”
Employee expectations
Good luck with that. According to national surveys, 61 percent of Generation Z employees, 48 percent of Millennial employees, and 41 percent of U.S. employees of all ages reported it’s likely to very likely they would leave their current job if offered a job with significantly better mental health benefits, SHRM Research: Work Is Negatively Impacting Employees’ Mental Health.
What employees want
These employees hold high expectations for what their employers need to provide, with 58 percent asking for paid mental health days (above and beyond regular sick leave); 48 percent asking for paid or unpaid time off so they can deal with mental health issues; 44 percent asking for flexible scheduling such as part-time hours, job sharing or flexible starting and ending work times; 35 percent asking for mental health coverage as part of their employee health care plans; and 35 percent asking for free or subsidized virtual mental health services.
The rise in anxiety
In late March, ComPsych, the world’s largest provider of mental health services, analyzed over 300,000 U.S. cases and reported anxiety had dramatically increased among U.S. employees in 2023. Although anxiety didn’t even rank among the top five mental health concerns in 2017, in 2023 more employees reached out for help with anxiety than sought help for stress, depression, addiction or relationship or family issues, https://www.compsych.com/press-room/press-article?nodeId=9ab16c66-0c95-44d5-a455-9962b8e67398.
When I spoke with the manager whose call initiated this column, he said, “Our company barely makes a profit. How exactly can we provide what our employees are asking us for—paid mental health days and reimbursements for mental health counseling?”
Employers benefit from offering employee benefits
You might discover, I answered, the benefits pay for themselves in increased productivity. Employees with poor mental health report four times as many unplanned absences as those with good mental health, https://www.hrmorning.com/articles/anxiety-at-work/. ComPsych reported that mental health-related leaves of absence, varying from a few days to several weeks, were 33 percent higher in 2023 than in 2022, and a whopping 300 percent higher than in 2017.
Additionally, with four out of every ten employees saying it’s likely they’d leave their current job for one offering better mental health benefits, employers offering mental health benefits reap rewards in employee recruitment and retention, SHRM Research: Work Is Negatively Impacting Employees’ Mental Health.
Do employers need to come to grips with their employees’ mental health struggles? It’s the new reality.
© 2024 Lynne Curry, PhD, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, author of “Navigating Conflict” (Business Experts Press, 2022) and “Managing for Accountability (BEP, 2021).
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Yes, employers do need to come to grips with employees’ mental health struggles. There long has been an employee benefit, the EAP–Employee Assistance Program. It’s a way for employers to offer the EAP as part of the benefit package and to offer an anonymous referral service to reliable counselors, financial literacy advisers, addiction counselors, anger management assistance, and more that may arise in the course of employment and performance assessment discussions. It can be a standard part of an insurance package offered by a reputable vendor.