Benefits for Employers

There are many myths about increased risks and costs of employing people with a mental illness.

However, research by the Australian Safety and Compensation Council (ASCC) dispels these beliefs demonstrating that in many cases the benefits of employing someone with a disability can far outweigh any costs. For example:

• People with a disability can have fewer accidents at work – the workers compensation costs for people with a disability can be as low as 4% of the compensation costs of other employees.
• Employees with a disability have, on average lower absenteeism and higher retention rates than employees without a disability.
• There are reduced costs in terms of recruitment and training of new staff along with increased staff stability.
• The costs of hiring people with a disability can build staff morale and teamwork, raise management awareness of workplace practices and conditions to increase customer and staff loyalty.

What you need to know as an employer:

• Mental Health conditions are treatable
• People with a mental health condition can, and do, work
• Employment has a positive effect on a person's mental health
• People with mental health conditions have the same intellectual capacity as anyone else
• You may already be managing employees with mental health conditions without even knowing it

As an employer you want the right person for the job and Worklink is here to meet your needs.

We are committed to providing your business with motivated, productive and reliable workers. Our client service and business minded approach delivers results that consistently rank us amongst the nation's most successful Disability Employment Services.

We are a free service and can assist you to find and keep great staff from a pool of real ability.

To select the right person for your business Worklink can:

• Screen potential employees and match them to your vacancies. We do this by assessing their current skills, indentifying any skills gaps, looking at their transferable skills and arranging any training needs to meet the job requirements.
• Provide open and up front communication to ensure the needs of both your business and employee are met. This is essential so that you are clear on what supports are required.
• Develop an employment support plan with you and the employee to ensure the right level of support is provided. Once employment is secured our staff will meet with both you and the employee to determine if support will be required on or off the job and how often. In most cases the support we provide is offsite and is at least once a week initially. Our staff meet with the employee face to face to make sure they are coping in the job and to ensure any issues that do arise are identified early. Staff will also make regular contact with you as agreed in the employment support plan.
• Provide financial assistance through a Wage Subsidy to accommodate training needs
• Provide ongoing support as long as required. Some people will settle into the job quickly and may only need support for a short period of time. Others may need ongoing support for some time.

It is important to emphasise that our clients are people who have recognised their condition, sought treatment and are now eager to resume a productive life in the workforce.

Worklink also offers a free training workshop for employers called “Managing Diversity - Mental Health in the Workplace “This training can benefit the whole workplace giving employers valuable knowledge on how to create a productive, mentally healthy work environment for all staff.