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CCH® BENEFITS — 11/15/07

Employees Recognize Effects Of Stress, Believe Employers Overlook Connection To Productivity

From Spencer's Benefits Reports: Employers do not address mental health matters in the workplace, and many employees do not even understand their current mental health benefits, according to a survey released by Meritain Health and the Partnership for Workplace Mental Health.

The study of 411 full-time employees with medical benefits found that employees are keenly aware that stress negatively affects them in the workplace, with 94% of respondents reporting that their stress level affects job performance. However, in contrast, 52% of employees said that their employer does not address stress, work/life balance, or mental/behavioral health with employees. Moreover, 40% of employees said that they are not aware of what mental/behavioral health benefits are offered by their employer. More than one-third of respondents (35.7%) would be more likely to use their mental/behavioral health benefits if their employer did a better job of promoting them.

“These survey results illustrate the need for employers to better make the connection between untreated mental health conditions and lost productivity, offer more comprehensive mental health benefits and better promote these benefits to their employees,” said Larry Luter, physician and chief medical officer of Meritain Health. “Preventing costly medical conditions begins with education and communication, and we look forward to starting the conversation.”

Results from the new survey showed that employees know mental health is important to their overall health and that stress significantly affects them in the workplace. The survey showed that 95.6% think that mental and behavioral health is very (75.3%) or somewhat (20.3%) important in determining overall health.

Employees are aware that stress negatively affects them in the workplace, with 94% believing their stress level affects job performance. In the survey, respondents also identified the effect of stress on the following aspects of their worklife:

• general attitude (55.8%);
• relationships with co-workers (39.4%);
• their productivity (36.2%);
• the quality of their work (35.5%); and
• their relationship with their supervisor (33.2%).
  

For more information, visit http://www.meritain.com.

For more information on this and related topics, consult the CCH Pension Plan Guide, CCH Employee Benefits Management, and Spencer's Benefits Reports.

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