Supporting mental health during the holiday season

Best practice

Take steps to support your injured workers over the holiday season, including talking to your insurer to ensure payments continue as scheduled, checking in with workers on their wellbeing, and providing links to further support if it’s needed.

Why this is important

The holiday season is a wonderful time of year for most of us, but for some it can have a negative impact on mental health, causing stress and anxiety around finances or relationships.

Injured workers away from the workplace may feel particularly isolated during this time if they have limited social support outside of their work.

Your toolkit

• Alleviate financial stress for workers receiving workers’ compensation benefits by checking with your insurer that their payments will continue as scheduled over the holiday season.
• Check in with injured workers away from the workplace to see how they’re going; show them they’re not forgotten and provide information on how to get further support if it’s required.
• The Workers’ Psychological Support Service (WPSS) is an independent, confidential and free support service for workers affected by a work-related psychological injury. It’s open to all Queensland workers and does not require an accepted workers’ compensation claim. A social worker will connect workers to existing community support and advice services appropriate to their needs, as well as providing informal counselling, mental health education and self-care strategies. (WPSS will be closed over Christmas and reopen on Monday 10 January 2022, but a social worker will monitor messages over this period and text workers to let them know when they’ll receive a call back. Lifeline (13 11 14) is contactable at all times for crisis support over the holiday season.)
• The Better Health Channel’s tips on reducing stress and Health Direct’s advice on beating stress and anxiety, include strategies for managing mental health over the holiday season that you can share with your workers.
• Beyond Blue’s website for employers, Heads Up, includes links to training opportunities and resources that may be useful when setting up your workplace to positively address and discuss mental health.