HR 101: The evolution of mental healthcare at work

Welcome to HR 101. Class is now in session. Today’s discussion will be about mental health benefits.

The history. Corporate wellness initiatives became a part of office culture after The OSH Act—administered by OSHA—encouraged employers to offer mental health programs focused on stress relief in 1986, according to BenefitsPro.

In the 1990s, businesses and government agencies came up with new initiatives to help improve employees’ mental well-being, including the National Institute of Mental Health Managing Depression in the Workplace and Healthy People 2000, a CDC initiative that encouraged employers to offer health promotion and disease prevention benefits.

“By the early 2000s, workplace wellness programs” had become fairly common in the US. The majority focused on raising awareness about mental health needs through health screenings, education, and supportive workplace initiatives, according to BenefitsPro. In 2008, about 70% of large employers offered wellness benefits, according to a KFF report.

Fast-forward. Mental health benefits for issues like depression, stress, and burnout still weren’t a standard offering until around 2019, when employers started to realize how important these offerings are to employees, particularly younger ones, who take them into account when deciding where to work, according to 2022 data from Securian Financial.

Three out of four millennials and Gen Zers say they’ve used their employer’s mental health benefits. Today, that might include meditation classes or apps, virtual or in-person therapy, paid mental health days, grief counseling, EAPs, or even financial planning seminars.

“Addressing mental wellness in the workplace has never been more crucial,” Darin Reeser, a Securian Financial regional director for supplemental health benefits, said in the report. “With burnout and the Great Resignation still in our midst, better understanding employee needs, expectations and concerns around mental wellness is pivotal.”