Depression Impacts Costs at Work |
Consider the many factors that can cut down on employee productivity: Employees with not enough work to do. Employees put in positions that are above or beneath their capability level. Unmotivated employees. These are fairly common productivity-cutters.
But there might be an even bigger problem that’s costing many employers big dollars in lost productivity and lost profits. It’s employee depression.
At any given time (according to one study done by the University of Michigan Depression Center), one in 10 employees is experiencing depression. The cost to employers, in absenteeism and reduced productivity, could run nearly $500 per employee, per year, on average. An employer with 100 employees could be losing as much as $50,000 a year because of depression among employees.
The University of Michigan Depression Center (UMDC) study found that, among employees surveyed, depression had a wide-ranging impact on their ability to function…including lack of motivation (83%), difficulty concentrating (82%), and chronic physical pain (24%) that made it uncomfortable for the employees to work. And half of the employees surveyed reported missing one to three days of work a month as a result of their illness.
Several studies in recent years by the Analysis Group, Inc., have examined the impact of depression on employees and the costs to employers. The Analysis Group studies focused on three types of mood disorders: manic depression, major depression, and chronic mild depression. Combined, these mood disorders are costing U.S. employers billions of dollars a year in lost productivity.
The Analysis Group studies suggest that when depressed employees show up to work (many not even realizing their symptoms of depression) their productivity is reduced by as much as 20%. And this doesn’t include lost productivity of coworkers who will often “cover” for the depressed employee.
Facts About Employee Depression
The study of depression in the workplace, done by the University of Michigan Depression Center and announced in 2004, included these findings:
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65% of benefit managers reported providing an Employee Assistance Program for depression…but only 14% of employees had ever accessed the service.
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85% of middle managers believed assisting employees with depression was part of their job…but only 18% had received the training necessary to identify depression and intervene with employees effectively.
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83% of benefit managers felt their firms had taken steps to ensure employees with depression were supported by their coworkers. But only 37% conducted proactive depression education programs.
- 78% of benefit managers believed loss in productivity due to depression was more costly to companies than treating it. Yet only 11% offered employee screenings.
| Depression often strikes a person early in life and can go on for years before the person will ever seek treatment. The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that 9.5% of U.S. adults suffer from depression. While 80% to 90% of these individuals could be successfully treated for their illness…fewer than half of them will ever seek treatment! The Analysis Group study found that for every two depressed employees receiving treatment, three additional employees remain untreated.
Nearly every business and organization, at one time or another, is touched by the costs of depression. At any given time, one in 10 employees suffers from depression. The underlying symptoms – reduced concentration, lack of motivation, moodiness, fatigue, vague aches and pains – can contribute to absenteeism and impair performance while at work. For example, more than twice as many people with depression take short-term disability than employees without the illness. And employees suffering from depression report more than three times the amount of lost productivity while at work.
A research project conducted by the Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO), a coalition of organizations doing research on health related costs, found that of 10 modifiable health risk factors evaluated…subjects with self-reported, persistent depression had the highest adjusted annual health care expenditures. These expenditures were 70% greater than those of persons not reporting depression. The number two health risk factor evaluated was “uncontrolled stress” – with 45% greater health costs for subjects reporting this factor than those who didn’t report stress.
Depressed and highly stressed individuals may seek medical attention for physical conditions such as unspecified pain, fatigue or headaches, while they have unrecognized or undiagnosed psychological or social issues, the HERO study concluded. Depressed or highly stressed persons are also likely to develop more serious disorders due to their depression or stress.
The HERO medical economics study included 46,026 active employees age 18-64 who completed an initial health risk assessment and biomedical screen. Then their health care costs were followed for at least six months, up to as long as three years. Based on the initial health risk assessments, the researchers noted that participants in the study were basically healthy employees and not chronic disease patients.
Steps Employers Can Take to Cut Depression Costs: Following are ways an employer can take action to assist employees with depression and, thereby, improve employee productivity and reduce the costs associated with this illness.
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Help educate employees and supervisors. Obtain information about depression and how this illness is effectively treated and share the information with employees and supervisors. (For information, contact a local hospital, or local mental health care agency or professional, or the National Institute of Mental Health.)
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Train supervisors in how to support employees with the illness. For your supervisors and managers, go beyond simply educating them on the topic of depression as an illness. Give them training in how to provide support to employees whose performance seems to be affected by depression and stress. Supervisors and managers need to be familiar with the symptoms of depression that employees may exhibit in the workplace, and know supportive and positive ways to intervene with these employees.
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Accommodate employees with depression. Be aware that some employees dealing with depression may qualify for protection from discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and similar state laws. These employees, from time to time, also may qualify for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and similar state laws. So, many employers have a legal responsibility to accommodate the special needs of some employees with depression. And supervisors and managers need to know ways the business or organization can accommodate employees with depression so that they are able to seek and benefit from professional care.
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Offer employees an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) benefit. EAPs are designed to assist employees with problems that affect job performance…problems such as family, marital, financial, and emotional difficulties. To arrange to offer employees an EAP, contact a local hospital, a local mental health care agency or professional, or the Employee Assistance Professionals Association.
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