Does your employer care about your mental health or should they.

Specialun

I have a very good friend who has spent 20+ years in big multinationals with 10+ in senior managemt roles. He was made reduntant when the company outsourced to eastern europe. Since then he has flat out refused to work for a large multinational again. He says they give zero fcuks about mental health and are only interested in numbers and not in their employees well being

This got me thinking of my own employer. I have a very high pressure or stressfull job and 9/10 im able to handle it, however i do see an attitude of like it or lump it. When the hammer is down its about the numbers and nothing else.

Does your employer care abour your mental health. Do you think an employer should care.

McMurphy

No they don't seem to give a phuck.

I am self employed though.

Agricola

Specialun wrote: »

I have a very good friend who has spent 20+ years in big multinationals with 10+ in senior managemt roles. He was made reduntant when the company outsourced to eastern europe. Since then he has flat out refused to work for a large multinational again. He says they give zero fcuks about mental health and are only interested in numbers and not in their employees well being

This got me thinking of my own employer. I have a very high pressure or stressfull job and 9/10 im able to handle it, however i do see an attitude of like it or lump it. When the hammer is down its about the numbers and nothing else.

Does your employer care abour your mental health. Do you think an employer should care.

My experience of multinationals is they certainly don't. The bigger the organisation, the more faceless it is and you're just a cog in the huge machine.
The only reason a multinational would care about an employee's mental health is if they were a high value member of staff that wouldn't be easily replaced. Otherwise, you're expendable.

Alpha_zero

Though the multinational do tend to pay well, and offer health care benefits that can help right. Lots of people are stressed and under pressures but that is nature of capitalism.

OldMrBrennan83

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bertsmom

I work for a large multinational and I guess they care to the extent that my benefits package includes health insurance and every now and then we get a thank you or acknowledgement of work done.
I personally don't understand the current trend of people expecting their employer to really 'care' about them. As far as I'm concerned I am there to do a job and I get paid fairly for that. No more and no less. Taking care of my mental health is my own responsibility.
I don't need my employer to hold my hand I'm an adult, there are plenty of organisations and family and friends who can be there for me emotionally but I think it's just too much to expect of an employer.
If my employer concentrates on turning a profit and staying in business thus keeping me employed so I can pay my mortgage and live comfortably my mental health will be better than struggling on the dole.

Permabear

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Avatar MIA

If we turn it around, should an employee care about their employer?

Should they work to their fullest capacity for their salary?

Should they not take duvet days?

Should they not leave to take on another role which will inconvenience their current employer.

Seriously, this new attitude of 'Why isn't everyone not considering me as a priority'. Would you ever go fúck off!

An employee's mental health should only be of concern to an employer insofar as it affects performance, or avoiding a workplace stress related claim against them.

Speedwell

Yeah, so long as we're talking "should", everyone should care about everyone's mental health. I mean, compassion is a thing.

Stonedpilot

Worked for major financial institution, they didn't care less about my mental health even though they knew I was going through alot at the time like bereavement of family member etc. In fact I would say they seen it as a hinderance to my performance, which it was but still shouldn't be seen like that from the company.


Big companies only care for profits, not staff sadly.

anewme

It's a very relevant topic.

They should care. An employer has a duty of care to its employees to offer a safe workplace. Why would that not involve mentally safe as well as physically safe?

The reality is though, they don't care at all.

what is annoying though is the pretending though, oh lets offer a talk on stress management, but it's at 8pm so those staying late (and in from 8am) can attend.

The reality in corporate companies is that each department is as good as their manager. Some managers are great to their staff and work with them and have generally positive team spirit and compassion while other departments begrudge signing off on holidays and that team are overworked, stressed and at breaking point.

Speedwell

I have no time for people or organisations who demand I care about them but who don't care about me.

I havent worked for many smaller employers but 2 larger companies. One an American medical device co and the other a large irish bank. Both were very statistically driven environments. I will say one thing though the bosses in the bank were fairer because they previously were in our role and knew the difficulty entailed. The bosses in the medical device company though on the other hand were simply despicable. They were superior to you in every way because they done 3 or 4 years of a degree. To be fair they had bosses to answer to also but there is no excuse to the way they spoke to some people on the floor while certain others got away with things. On no way at all are you addressed on a human level. Highly political environment too.

Personally when you have a couple of hundred employees under your roof its hard to keep everyone happy. The bank had mindfulness sessions to be fair to them but there was so much stress involved in the actual job that no amount of mindfulness could help.

Speedwell

Weekend Edition wrote: »

Your employer pays you to do your job, they are not obliged to give two fukcs about you anymore than you are obliged to give two fukcs about them, your employment is a business deal, find someone else to hug.

Any employer who doesn't give a f*ck about their employees doesn't, by definition, give a f*ck about their business, their clients, their product, their inventory, their industry, or how business is done in modern times.

I happen to be an IT professional specialising in CRM software. I used to work in the oil industry as a database administrator for ERP. Trust me, I've seen the damage that happens when employers don't care.

Speedwell

Speedwell wrote: »

Any employer who doesn't give a f*ck about their employees doesn't, by definition, give a f*ck about their business, their clients, their product, their inventory, their industry, or how business is done in modern times.

I happen to be an IT professional specialising in CRM software. I used to work in the oil industry as a database administrator for ERP. Trust me, I've seen the damage that happens when employers don't care.

We could learn alot from the quaker ran businesses who were very much about showing care toward the employee. I hear that Cadbury's had a reputation for excellence in the pre Kraft days

I normally dont believe in religion in the workplace but in this case it was for the betriment of everyone.

Speedwell

Deleted User wrote: »

I normally dont believe in religion in the workplace but in this case it was for the betriment of everyone.

I went to Quaker meeting as an atheist. Everyone gets to interpret the Inner Light in their own way. This is very much the point.

bucketybuck

They are giving you an agreed amount of money for you to carry out an agreed amount of work. What the **** more do people want?

Speedwell

bucketybuck wrote: »

They are giving you an agreed amount of money for you to carry out an agreed amount of work. What the **** more do people want?

Jesus, people who depend on production machinery treat their machines better than that.

Speedwell

Speedwell wrote: »

I went to Quaker meeting as an atheist. Everyone gets to interpret the Inner Light in their own way. This is very much the point.

A very forward thinking religious organisation by the sounds of it. It seems lost on the modern world of mad men and women that many of the most successful businesses and brands we see today were originally built by the Quakers.

Ursus Horribilis

I'd like them not to treat their employees like ****. Pay them properly, treat them with respect and don't dick them around.

bucketybuck

bucketybuck wrote: »

They are giving you an agreed amount of money for you to carry out an agreed amount of work. What the **** more do people want?

Only it is not always this straightforward. Sometimes working your ass off and actually being productive isnt enough. If it were as simple as the picture you paint then no one would complain.

0byme75341jo28

bucketybuck wrote: »

They are giving you an agreed amount of money for you to carry out an agreed amount of work. What the **** more do people want?

It's not a fair deal.

They're employing you for less than your worth so you can generate profit for them, the least they should do is care about your well-being.

Unfortunately modern corporations are solely profit-driven and faceless, seeing individuals as little more than expendable cogs in their profit-making machine. it's disgusting in all honesty.

dotsman

Alpha_zero wrote: »

...but that is nature of capitalism.

No it isn't. If you don't understand what capitalism is, then please don't make judgments on it. Capitalism is a lot more complex and a lot "nicer" than what you read on your left wing/anarchist/nazi pamphlets.

AllForIt

My employer defiantly cares about my mental health. If I seem happy he'll give me more work to do and give me a harder time. Behaving in a way that shows my boss that my mental health is in good shape indicates to him that he needs to work me much harder, right up to just a notch before breaking point. Moral of the tale is never look like your happy at work.

Avatar MIA

Rhea Curved Wisdom wrote: »

It's not a fair deal.

They're employing you for less than your worth so you can generate profit for them, the least they should do is care about your well-being.

What kind of BS economics theory is this? If that were the case they should set up their own business, and spend a significant amount of their day calling up their employees to ask, 'you okay, hun?'.

smurfjed

I work in aviation, my employer and medical examiner are extremely interested in my mental health and physical health, we do biannual medicals, the company actually has a full medical division. If i was to express that i was feeling somewhat under stress or depressed I would find myself removed from work for evaluation, if I allow my BMI to get over 30 and say that I snore, I will then find myself undergoing sleep apnea testing. I am also subject to random drug and alcohol testing.
While these tests can be expensive for the company, the alternative other scenarios are a nightmare.

0byme75341jo28

Avatar MIA wrote: »

What kind of BS economics theory is this? If that were the case they should set up their own business, and spend a significant amount of their day calling up their employees to ask, 'you okay, hun?'.

If you're working for any massive corporation (Big Pharma/Tech companies for example) you are getting absolutely screwed by the company to make ridiculous profit relative to your salary, that's the point I was making. Morally, they should have enough respect for you to ensure you're mental and physical wellbeing is not being affected to an unreasonable degree.

If your workload is making you have suicidal thoughts/self harm something should be done about it, acting the hard man and being facetious is unhelpful. These issues should be seen as far more important than whether Alphabet are making $20 billion in profit or $19.5 billion.

Avatar MIA

Avatar MIA wrote: »

What kind of BS economics theory is this? If that were the case they should set up their own business, and spend a significant amount of their day calling up their employees to ask, 'you okay, hun?'.

Ah thats unfair and no one is calling for that. Ive seen supervisors target individuals before and try push them to the brink. What we all want is less of this and a bit more respect toward the employee who is a human after all.

Hector Bellend

They dont give a hairy flying rats ass.

The feeling is mutual

AudreyHepburn

Some do, some don’t. I’d expect some understanding and caring from them but equally I wouldn’t expect them to become your counselor or therapist or to continue to allow you to work if your illness becomes serious or begins to affect the job.

Cee-Jay-Cee

I’m in the public service and senior management couldn’t give one fúck about anyone’s mental health. They spout all sorts of shíte about employee welfare and well being but it’s pureky to comply with EU directives etc

They are only interested in results and so long as they can boast to their own authorities and overseers about getting them they don’t care how they’re achieved. They will shít on you to achieve their goals but do absolutely zero themselves to achieve them.

AudreyHepburn

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

Some do, some don’t. I’d expect some understanding and caring from them but equally I wouldn’t expect them to become your counselor or therapist or to continue to allow you to work if your illness becomes serious or begins to affect the job.

No but they should have access to services where people can avail of this even if they provided an allowance. Some would prefer this then free gym for example or free dentist. No one is suggesting they hold your hand with kid gloves.

Berserker

Not remotely. Most employers don't care about mental health and people who have such issues tend to be "managed out" of teams and the organisation, if possible.

smurgen

Permabear wrote: »

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Spot on.i've seen complete breakdowns in two places i worked and it was an eye opener.ome turned to drink and had to be pulled as the smell of drink and nonesense talk at 8 a.m was becoming too noticable and mistakes were creeping up in frequency.
the two companies facilitated leave for the workers involved.this was only done because both companies had a massive workforce 100k+ and while these employees took the leave they had to be covered by team mates,myself included. I see the difficulty that smaller firms would have providing this type of leave.

AudreyHepburn

Deleted User wrote: »

No but they should have access to services where people can avail of this even if they provided an allowance. Some would prefer this then free gym for example or free dentist. No one is suggesting they hold your hand with kid gloves.

But why should they have to do that? Surely if you’re in a bad enough state to require constant and quick access to such services you aren’t in any fit state to work?

As you say your employer isn’t there to lead you through your problems by the hand.

I have a minor though unpleasant physical health issue at the moment which although in the process of being taken care of sometimes makes me feel really ill in work and affects my performance. My employers know and so cut me some slack when I’m unwell because they know if I push myself too far it’ll make it worse. That’s as much as I expect from them. I’m not going to ask them to pay my GP or Hospital bills or provide me with free healthcare services. That’s completely unreasonable.

Permabear

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AudreyHepburn

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

But why should they have to do that? Surely if you’re in a bad enough state to require constant and quick access to such services you aren’t in any fit state to work?

As you say your employer isn’t there to lead you through your problems by the hand.

I have a minor though unpleasant physical health issue at the moment which although in the process of being taken care of sometimes makes me feel really ill in work and affects my performance. My employers know and so cut me some slack when I’m unwell because they know if I push myself too far it’ll make it worse. That’s as much as I expect from them. I’m not going to ask them to pay my GP or Hospital bills or provide me with free healthcare services. That’s completely unreasonable.

Fair play to them.

In the case of a high stress job then employees need to be more mindful of this and in a nutshell that is what im saying. Pushing a person that is already highly stressed is all well and good but it will prove counter productive to the organisation in the long run. Ive often heard the line being touted around 'Our people are our greatest asset'. In most cases its meaningless rhetoric and propaganda aimed at the gullible.

I dont like the way people who are stressed are classified as liabilities. If people are stressed due to their work it is because they do care.

wakka12

Patww79 wrote: »

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A company should at the very least care about the welfare of a person who is spending their life to make that money for them
Happy workers are harder working workers, i think it works both way and benefits everyone.

bucketybuck

Rhea Curved Wisdom wrote: »

It's not a fair deal.

They're employing you for less than your worth so you can generate profit for them, the least they should do is care about your well-being.

Such rubbish. Less than your worth? I've never worked a single day under a wage, terms and conditions that I didn't agree in advance, your worth is the figure you agree to work for, no more no less.

By the way, it is well known that a company can increase productivity by having a settled and content workforce but that isn't the question here. The question is if your own, personal, private circumstances are the companies responsibility and the answer is no, they are not. Its such an entitled load of rubbish to believe otherwise.

If a company chooses to implement welfare policies it should be with the aim of increasing productivity through increased employee satisfaction, thats a well run company acting in its best interests. But don't fool yourself that the end goal is more happiness for the employee, and nor should it be. Let the company worry about its goals and the employee worry about theirs.

OldMrBrennan83

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Avatar MIA

Rhea Curved Wisdom wrote: »

If your workload is making you have suicidal thoughts/self harm something should be done about it, acting the hard man and being facetious is unhelpful. These issues should be seen as far more important than whether Alphabet are making $20 billion in profit or $19.5 billion.

A lot of multinationals go out of there way to make sure their employees are well taken care of.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/284550


^^^ No one should be naive to think this is isn't for selfish reasons. Of course you'll find some people that were not happy with Google/Alphabet because thousands of people work for them, and no company can ensure every employee is happy.

There is huge competition for employees to work for the likes of Google because they treat their employees so well.


You'll also find larger companies are FAR more likely to have an employee support system, up to and including paying for counselling.

Now, they will be less likely to support an employee that's not particularly productive. But, is it the job of companies to be social workers.

I think that is beyond their remit.

Speedwell

bucketybuck wrote: »

Such rubbish. Less than your worth? I've never worked a single day under a wage, terms and conditions that I didn't agree in advance, your worth is the figure you agree to work for, no more no less.

Bullsh!t. What you get paid is a result of multiple factors including the ratio of power differential between you and the employer. Do you need the job more than they need you to work in it? You're screwed, bucko.

Avatar MIA

Speedwell wrote: »

Bullsh!t. What you get paid is a result of multiple factors including the ratio of power differential between you and the employer. Do you need the job more than they need you to work in it? You're screwed, bucko.

Fight the power, comrade!

bucketybuck

Speedwell wrote: »

Bullsh!t. What you get paid is a result of multiple factors including the ratio of power differential between you and the employer. Do you need the job more than they need you to work in it? You're screwed, bucko.

You need them more than they need you? Congratulations, now you're starting to understand the concept of "worth".

Permabear

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Speedwell

bucketybuck wrote: »

You need them more than they need you? Congratulations, now you're starting to understand the concept of "worth".

So, to you, your work is worth only what someone is willing to give you for it? I think you don't really believe this. Most people don't. They move, for example, to places where they can get more for their work. They expect to be paid at least the minimum wage. They wonder why other people get more for the same work at different companies or even in the same company. They ask why the work of women is seen as inherently less than the work of men such that women get paid consistently less.

Capitalists value things that have value, such as the condition of their workers. What you believe in is fascism.

You're not going to catch me out on this. I used to be an American Libertarian and a member of the Von Mises Institute. Your uncritical attempts at spouting anarchocapitalist dogma amuse me.

pauliebdub

My current place and my previous place care about the welfare of employees so if anyone had issues regarding mental health they could be raised and addressed. It's a double edged sword though, while it's great to be supported by your employer at the same time you'll end up being treated like a special case - people will go out of their way to avoid upsetting you and you'll be conscious of being treated differently - not something I was comfortable with. it will also damage your prospects within the company if you want promotion as there will be a perception that you won't be able to cope with the additional pressure.

In the end I deeply regretted revealing my issues and resigned not long after. I've kept my issues private in my current company.

bucketybuck

Speedwell wrote: »

You're not going to catch me out on this. I used to be an American Libertarian and a member of the Von Mises Institute. Your uncritical attempts at spouting anarchocapitalist dogma amuse me.

Thats absolutely hilarious! Pathetic, but also hilarious.

Speedwell

bucketybuck wrote: »

Thats absolutely hilarious! Pathetic, but also hilarious.

The important thing was that I grew a brain and got out of that laughable crap. Suggest you do the same.

Alf Veedersane

I think most dont care and I wouldn't expect them to.

That said, when they do or its perceived that they do, it is usually beneficial. People go the extra mile because they value the feeling that they are seen as a person and not just a resource. And there's loyalty that it brings from staff. Both of those work veey well for the company.

Its not that they should but it makes sense to make people think you give a sh*te about them as people.