Mental health at work: factors and consequences

Mental health in the workplace is based on a number of factors commonly referred to as psychosocial risks. Deteriorating mental health can have multiple consequences, stemming directly from employee distress.

Occupational stress

Psychological distress at work and work-related stress are subjects that have been attracting growing interest in recent years.

In 2021, the Act to modernize the occupational health and safety system added the notion of psychological integrity and psychosocial risks to the prevention mechanisms. According to section 51 of the LSST, “establishments have a duty to protect the health and ensure the safety and psychological integrity of workers”.

Stress arises when there is an imbalance between a person’s perception of the constraints imposed on them by their environment, and their perception of their own resources for coping with them. Exposure to high or prolonged levels of stress will then have observable effects on productivity.

Psychosocial risks

Within the work environment, the 4 categories of factors responsible for stress are linked to :

Work organization (workload and complexity);
Working conditions (flexibility, arduousness);
Interpersonal relations (support from superiors and colleagues);
Recognition (balance between contribution and reward).

However, unlike physical risks, psychosocial risks are much more subjective and difficult to detect and analyze.

The vagueness surrounding their definition, the multiplicity of logics of occurrence, the absence of an unequivocal cause-effect relationship, the latency period between exposure to risk and its consequences, the cumulative effects of exposure to several risks and the denial of employers represent major obstacles to the implementation of effective preventive measures.

The consequences of suffering at work

In the workplace, high levels of stress can lead to physical, emotional and intellectual symptoms. These symptoms can have repercussions on behavior, such as the use of sedatives or stimulants, or flight from an aggressive environment, inhibition, withdrawal and a reduction in social activities.

In addition, pathologies recognized as resulting from stress, such as exhaustion, depression, cardiac disorders and musculoskeletal disorders, can also have personal and professional consequences for the employee.

For the employer, this can mean absenteeism, presenteeism, productivity issues and increased turnover. In addition, there are other indirect consequences, such as workplace conflicts or a deterioration in customer relations.

In Canada, the direct and indirect costs associated with mental health represent more than $6.3 billion annually for companies.

How to intervene

Preventing psychosocial risks at source remains the best way to take care of your employees.

Intervening directly on the factors responsible can include, but is not limited to, initiatives such as flexible working hours, hybrid telecommuting and additional personal leave, reduced workloads or access to appropriate tools, human management practices and accessible managers, as well as fair and equitable compensation.

Raising awareness also helps to break down the social representations and stigma surrounding mental health.

Whatever the case, the best way to find out what your employees need is to listen to them. An organizational survey is an excellent way of understanding their needs and identifying the interventions to be put in place.

An article from our Human Capital team.

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