Workplace Mental Health

Creating voluntary standards to support mental health in the workplace for all Californians.

Workplace Mental Health

Nearly one in five Americans live with a mental health condition, yet there are no well-established and agreed-upon standards in the U.S. to guide public and private employers about how to increase mental health awareness in the workplace, support prevention, and respond to needs with recovery strategies.

“We are proud to lead the country in creating these voluntary standards and believe they will go a long way toward promoting mental wellness in the workforce.”
Keyondria Bunch, PhD.

Commissioner & Project Chair, MHSOAC

Goal/Opportunity

The goals of the Workplace Mental Health project include:

  • Explore current practices in workplace mental health in the U.S. and abroad;
  • Identify cost-effective methods for promoting workplace mental health that align with employee and employer needs
  • Provide a framework to organizations for creating policies and processes to address mental health in the workplace
  • Assess the utility of developing a certification strategy to support the adoption of voluntary standards for workplace mental health
  • Support public and private collaboration on workplace mental health initiatives
  • Explore incentives for public and private organizations to implement mental healthcare in the workplace

Background

Senate Bill 1113 (Monning) in 2018 directed the Commission to establish a framework and voluntary standard for promoting mental health in the workplace.

Expected Outcomes

The standards for workplace mental health are intended to reduce mental health stigma, increase public, employee, and employer awareness of the significance of mental health, and create avenues to treatment, support, and recovery.

Project Milestones

Next Steps

  1. Stakeholder Engagement

    Interview employers, employees, and subject matter experts to create a framework for the standards to support workplace mental health.

  2. Employer Roundtable

    A roundtable of employers will further help to fashion a framework for supporting workplace mental health standards.

  3. Develop Standards and Recommendations

    The Commission will consider a set of voluntary standards and recommendations.

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