Study on the management of mentally ill employees

The study also points to problems and stresses in the workplace. Often, affected employees, colleagues and superiors do not know how to deal with mental health problems. In the course of a year, the study emphasizes, around 20 percent of employees have a (mostly minor) mental illness. Around 75 percent of those affected say their productivity at work is reduced due to their health.

The Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and Psychiatry Baselland have investigated how mental health problems affect employees in the workplace from the perspective of German-speaking Swiss managers.

The study's findings include the following:

- Managers are not prepared for psychological problem situations

 - Recurring severe problems are often not addressed

 - In most cases, the employment relationship is terminated

 - Small businesses and industrial companies are particularly challenged

 - Managers often act only when problems are acute

 - Support measures should not be linked to absences.

 - The problems take place in the closest circle

 - If psychiatrists are involved, it is primarily a matter of

Research team formulates recommendations:

1.) Sensitization

The study shows a need for training on all sides, not only for managers, but also for human resources managers, in-house staff services, occupational health and safety specialists, the labor inspectorate, case managers from private insurance companies, etc. For this reason, companies should be required, among other things, to provide their managers with appropriate and sustained training in dealing with employees with mental health problems.

2.) Appropriate guidelines

All companies should, among other things, have suitable guidelines for dealing with employees with mental health problems, which should be adapted to the size of the company, etc. and go beyond preventive and health-promoting measures.

3.) Specifications and structures

Experience shows that improved know-how, guidelines and cooperation intentions are not enough (as important as they are) to sustainably change the behavior of the actors. This needs to be accompanied by a framework of legal requirements and incentives for all actors.

Study "The Daily Madness

The research results and the recommendations in detail can be read in the summary as well as in the final report of the study "Der tägliche Wahnsinn - Psychisch auffällige Mitarbeiter und ihr Problemverlauf aus Sicht von Deutschschweizer Führungskräften".

On the website of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts you can also download the complete study download