Towards Mentally Healthy Workplaces: MHCC Supports Innovative Human Rights Conference
OTTAWA, March 11, 2014 The Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) is proud to lend its support to the Canadian Human Rights Commission’s (CHRC) two-day conference on human rights issues in Canada’s rapidly evolving workplace: "Accommodation Works! - Toward a more Inclusive Society".
Stigma surrounding mental health problems is a major barrier preventing people from seeking help in the workplace. With more than 500,000 Canadians missing work each week because of mental illness and with approximately $51 billion each year lost to the Canadian economy because of mental illness, employers and employees are seeing the need for holistic workplaces that put emphasis on mental health, as well as physical health.
The conference, to be held in Ottawa June 11-12, 2014, is being organized in conjunction with the Canadian Association of Statutory Human Rights Agencies, the umbrella group that represents human rights institutions in Canadian provinces and territories.
A key attraction of Accommodation Works! is an MHCC workshop on the National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace. Championed by the MHCC, and developed by the Canadian Standards Association and the Bureau de normalisation du Québec, the National Standard is a voluntary set of guidelines, tools and resources focused on promoting employees' psychological health and preventing psychological harm due to workplace factors. The workshop will cover the practical application of the National Standard and its connection to human rights issues. The focus of the session will be a detailed walk through The Working Mind program, MHCC’s practical workplace adaptation of the Department of National Defence’s and the Canadian Forces’ Mental Health Training for Managing employees and Road to Mental Readiness – providing managers and supervisors with the knowledge needed to address mental health and mental illness in the workplace.
Accommodation Works! will bring together employers, human resources professionals, unions, and human rights officials from across Canada to exchange ideas and best practices on issues such as the duty to accommodate and latest legal trends in areas such as family caregiving, drug and alcohol testing, and gender identity.
Visit the conference webpage for more information and to register.
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For more information, contact:
Canadian Human Rights Commission
Media Relations
613-943-9118
www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca
@CdnHumanRights
https://www.facebook.com/CanadianHumanRightsCommission
Mental Health Commission of Canada
Katherine Cormack, Director, Communications
Mental Health Commission of Canada
Mobile: 1-403-620-2339
Office: 403-385â€4033
kcormack@mentalhealthcommissio.ca
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