By Gene Marks, Photo: Drazen Zigic/Getty Images/iStockphoto, The Guardian, June 26, 2022
Recently, the Society of Human Resources Executives surveyed approximately 3,100 HR executives about the benefits their companies are providing and of course the obvious ones – healthcare, retirement and paid time off – made the top of the list. But here’s something that should catch your attention if you’re a small business owner: more than 91% of the respondents also said that their company provides some sort of health benefits for mental health, which is up from 86% in 2018 and significantly higher than any levels seen over the past decade.
This is not hard to understand. Thanks to the pandemic and other stresses of modern-day life, countless Americans are suffering from mental health challenges. Awareness of the issue has been rising over the past few years, thanks in part to public disclosures by celebrities, from tennis star Naomi Osaka to gymnast Simone Biles. Survey after survey reminds employers that their workers are increasingly stressed and that more attention needs to be paid to their mental health concerns.
And yet many of my clients – small business owners – still don’t seem to be getting the message. Which is why I’m telling them about a recent court case that should get their attention.
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