Your how-to: Drafting initial mental health policy documents
Drafting initial mental health policy documents refers to the process of developing and formalising written protocols and policies related to mental health within your business space. This typically outlines the company's stance, procedures, and initiatives concerning employees' mental wellbeing. The policy elaborates on your commitment to safeguarding mental health, promoting a supportive work environment and detailing resources for staff facing mental health issues.
Furthermore, it ensures compliance with Australian legislation, including the Model WHS Act 2011, the Fair Work Act 2009 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, that mandate employers to ensure the protection of employees against mental health discrimination. This process requires consultation with staff, mental health professionals and legal experts to ensure fair, comprehensive, and effective policies
Step by step instructions
Understand Current Procedures: Begin by examining your workplace's current procedures and attitudes towards mental health. This will help you identify what is already working well and what areas may need improvement.
Consult With Employees: Gather feedback from your staff through surveys, interviews, or open forums. Their experiences will provide invaluable insight into what they need from a mental health policy. Make sure to handle these discussions with sensitivity, ensuring confidentiality and support.
Draft the Policy: Begin to outline your mental health policy. This should include your commitment to staff's mental wellbeing, steps the company will take to support this, and resources available to employees. Remember, this is a draft and can be reviewed and revised.
Legal and Professional Review: Have the updated draft reviewed by mental health and legal professionals to ensure the policy is both suitable for the needs of your employees and compliant with Australian legislation.
Review Australian Legislation: Conduct comprehensive research into Australian mental health and workplace legislation, such as the Fair Work Act 2009 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1992. Understanding these laws ensures your policies comply, reducing the risk of legal complications.
Consult With Experts: Seek advice from mental health experts and legal professionals. Mental health professionals can inform you on best practices for support, while legal experts can ensure your draft aligns with existing legislation.
Incorporate Feedback: Ask representatives from different departments to review the draft and provide feedback. This ensures a holistic approach, addressing any potential issues across the company.
Executive Approval: Present the final draft to the business executives for approval. Be prepared to discuss why you've made specific choices and how it benefits the company and staff.
Use this template to implement
To ensure you can execute seamlessly, download the implementation template.
Pitfalls to avoid
Keep in mind that mental health policies should comply with the legislation and regulations in place, specifically the Australian laws such as the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Work Health and Safety Act 2011. Not doing so could involve legal implications and affect the credibility of your policy.
When drafting a mental health policy, be cautious not to overlook the importance of privacy and confidentiality. Employees need assurance that their engagements with any mental health programmes will remain private. Ignoring this may demotivate potential participants and could lead to potential breaches of privacy laws.
Avoid assuming that merely having a policy is sufficient; it must be correctly communicated across the whole organisation. Ensure it's accessible, easy to understand and everyone in the organisation is informed about it.
Remember that mental health is a complex subject; a policy that only focuses on one aspect, such as counselling support, while ignoring others like working conditions can be counterproductive. Ensure your approach is comprehensive and cover a broad range of factors affecting mental health.
The effectiveness of the policy is greatly reduced if it lacks buy-in from all levels of the organisation. Avoid drafting your policy in isolation or without broad consultation. Ensure that all groups within your organisation have a chance to contribute and validate the policy, including staff members, executive team, and HR.
Just having a policy in place is not enough. Situations may arise where managers or HR professionals need to address mental health issues but lack the appropriate training to do so. Make sure to incorporate mental health training for staff members as part of your policy.