OASW Report Calls for Key Actions to Increase Access to Employee Mental Health Benefits

Mental illness is the leading cause of disability in the workplace, costing employers more than $6 billion in lost productivity and accounting for 70% of all workplace disability costs. This has been further compounded by an “echo pandemic” of mental health problems due to the impacts of COVID-19, with evidence pointing to a greater number of employees seeking affordable and accessible mental health supports through their employee benefits in 2020.

As the largest regulated provider of psychotherapy in Ontario, Registered Social Workers (RSWs) are critical to employee mental health. 
OASW’s new report, Turning Issues into Answers in the Workplace: Registered Social Workers are Key to Improving Employee Well-being and Maximizing Investments in Mental Health Coverage, highlights the important role of Registered Social Workers in increasing access to employee mental health supports and provides two key recommendations on how best to meet the growing mental health needs of employees. 

Access the Report

About OASW
OASW is the voice of social work in Ontario. It is a voluntary, bilingual, non-profit association representing approximately 7000+ social workers. All members have a university degree in social work at the bachelor, master, or doctoral level. OASW works to actively speak on behalf of social workers on issues of interest to the profession and advocates for the improvement of social policies and programs directly affecting social work practice and client groups served.