Workplace Mental Health Provision Criticised
Companies should be offered tax breaks to provide services for people with mental health problems, according to a new report.The Social Market Foundation said on Wednesday that employers should be given incentives to keep people with depression or anxiety in work.
Mental health issues cost the economy up to £77bn a year, the think-tank said.
It added that measures to provide tax exemptions for employee assistance programmes and mental health medical insurance would help the government meet its pledge of reducing the number of incapacity benefit claimants by one million by 2015.
Other recommendations included providing tax credits for investment in mental wellbeing and giving small businesses subsidies to buy insurance products for their workforce.
Co-author Jessica Prendergrast said: "There is a clear case of market failure in supporting people with mental health conditions.
"Mental illness comes at great cost to the state, employers, and the individuals concerned, yet in the current system there is little incentive to identify and treat such problems early.
"Workers are left in a 'no-man's land' and often have to leave work. By helping employers to provide occupational health or rehabilitation support services to their employees, the government can ensure that more people remain in work, and less money is spent overall."
|
