MENTAL illness in the workplace is a major issue for employers and they need better ways to manage it according to new research by SANE Australia.
The research by the national mental health charity found that 95 per cent of respondents said employers and managers needed education on mental illness, and training on how to manage its effects in the workplace.
SANE Australia’s CEO Jack Heath said it’s a major problem throughout Australia, affecting many people and costing the economy more than $6.5 billion every year.
According to a recent survey by SANE Australia a majority of the 520 people surveyed said that no support had been provided to them at work when mentally unwell, and less than half of managers (43 per cent) had an understanding of mental illness.
WISE Employment Newport business manager Mina Aziz said an employee should not be discriminated against because of a mental illness.
“A person with a mental illness should be given every opportunity to succeed in the workplace just like any other staff member,” Ms Aziz said.
She said there is a growing awareness of mental illness in the workplace but that a stigma is still attached to employing someone with a mental illness.
Research commissioned by WISE employment in September 2012 surveyed 253 Australian SME’s charting their readiness to employ a person with a mental illness.
The results revealed only one in three Australians would consider employing a person who has a mental illness, making it a bigger barrier than having a physical disability.
However, it stated that these perceptions do not match reality; with three in four employers describing the experience of hiring a person with a mental illness as positive or very positive.
Ms Aziz said it was important to remember that a person with a mental illness can succeed or fail in work just like any other staff member.
“Their mental illness does not define their job performance,” she said.
