Laws and legal decisions in Canada increasingly expect employers to prevent harm to workers’ mental health and to reasonably accommodate mental health disabilities. The following questions reflect some of the requirements under Canadian laws related to occupational health and safety, employment standards, workers’ compensation, and human rights.
Use this resource to help your organization check where you may be exposed to risk and where improvements can be made.
Leadership, policy and accountability
- Is psychological health and safety clearly included in our health and safety policies and practices?
- Do leaders understand how psychological health and safety is an employer responsibility, not just an individual issue?
- Are employees supported and encouraged to identify psychosocial hazards and suggest improvements
- Do leaders understand their legal duties related to workplace mental health, including human rights, employment law, and occupational health and safety regulations?
- Does the organization have a health and safety representative, or a committee for organisations over 20 employees, and do they collaborate with leadership and human resources to help manage psychological health and safety?
Identifying and understanding risk
- Do we regularly identify psychosocial hazards such as workload, lack of control, conflict, and those hazards that require immediate attention such as harassment, bullying, or exposure to trauma?
- Do we assess which psychosocial hazards are most likely to cause harm and which could have the greatest negative impact?
- How do we track and review data that may indicate psychological health and safety risks, such as absenteeism, presenteeism, turnover, or grievances?
- Do we review disability claims and workplace conflicts to understand how often mental health factors may be involved?
Preventing harm and reducing risk
- Are work priorities, schedules, and staffing levels reviewed to reduce excessive stress and fatigue where possible?
- Do we have clear and effective processes to prevent and respond to bullying, harassment, discrimination, aggression, and violence at work?
- Do leaders understand the difference between a personal or health concern and a performance issue, and do they know how to respond to both appropriately?
Skills, training, and support
- Are managers and supervisors trained and rewarded to protect psychological health and safety as part of their role, including noticing and responding in a timely way to early signs of distress?
- Do employees receive basic information about mental health, inclusion, and respectful behaviour at work?
- Do we support work-life balance and recovery through policies, practices, and everyday leadership decisions?
Responding to incidents and recovery
- Do we have clear plans for responding to serious events such as threats of violence, severe distress, or other workplace crises?
- Are there safe, confidential, and anonymous ways for workers, human resources, leaders, and union or employee representatives to communicate about psychological health and safety concerns?
- Do we have a plan or policy to support employees who have been affected by trauma, whether the cause is work-related or personal?
Accommodation, return to work, and review
- Do we know how to reasonably accommodate mental health issues and disabilities, and to adjust work when needed?
- Do we regularly review our practices to reduce the risk of complaints, injuries, or legal issues related to mental health or disability accommodation?