Close Menu
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    • Our Story
    • Partner with us
    • Reach Us
    • Career
    Subscribe Newsletter
    HR KathaHR Katha
    • Exclusive
      • Exclusive Features
      • Research
      • Point Of View
      • Case In Point
      • Dialogue
      • Movement
      • Profile
      • Beyond Work
      • Rising Star
      • By Invitation
    • News
      • Global HR News
      • Compensation & Benefits
      • Diversity
      • Events
      • Gen Y
      • Hiring & Firing
      • HR & Labour Laws
      • Learning & Development
      • Merger & Acquisition
      • Performance Management & Productivity
      • Talent Management
      • Tools & Technology
      • Work-Life Balance
    • Special
      • Cover Story
      • Editorial
      • HR Forecast 2024
      • HR Forecast 2023
      • HR Forecast 2022
      • HR Forecast 2021
      • HR Forecast 2020
      • HR Forecast 2019
      • New Age Learning
      • Coaching and Training
      • Learn-Engage-Transform
    • Magazine
    • Reports
      • Whitepaper
        • HR Forecast 2024 e-mag
        • Future-proofing Manufacturing Through Digital Transformation
        • Employee Healthcare & Wellness Benefits: A Guide for Indian MSMEs
        • Build a Future Ready Organisation For The Road Ahead
        • Employee Experience Strategy
        • HRKatha 2019 Forecast
        • Decoding and Driving Employee Engagement
        • One Platform, Infinite Possibilities
      • Survey Reports
        • Happiness at Work
        • Upskilling for Jobs of the Future
        • The Labour Code 2020
    • Conferences
      • Rising Star Leadership Awards
      • HRKatha Futurecast
      • Automation.NXT
      • The Great HR Debate
    • HR Jobs
    WhatsApp LinkedIn X (Twitter) Facebook Instagram
    HR KathaHR Katha
    Home»Exclusive Features»Mind it – it’s a mental wellness leave, not sick leave!
    Exclusive Features

    Mind it – it’s a mental wellness leave, not sick leave!

    mmBy Prajjal Saha | HRKathaJuly 13, 20176 Mins Read3180 Views
    Share LinkedIn Twitter Facebook
    Share
    LinkedIn Twitter Facebook

    While most people hesitate to talk about their mental wellbeing, it is crucial for one to sustain both work life and personal life, in general.

    In the 2016 Bollywood movie, Dear Zindagi , the protagonist, Kaira, who is heartbroken due to a sequence of events—a relationship break-up and slow progress with her prospects at work—spends sleepless nights in despair. She then, one day accidentally hears a psychologist, Dr Jehangir Khan, “Jug”, speaking at a Mental Health Awareness Conference and decides to take his help to get over her insomnia and anxiety.

    The events that follow and Kaira’s interactions with Jug, clearly show her hesitance to open up to him about her personal and professional issues. While dealing with her own set of problems, she is  also simultaneously making efforts to overcome some of them with Jug’s help. However, she is strongly judged by her relatives and parents for seeking psychological help. Well, while the movie ended on a positive note, it is still just a movie. The hard-hitting reality in India is that people prefer to keep any discussions about mental health under the carpet, because they may be judged. It is forbidden —for you may be tagged insane!

    In fact, at the workplace, it is even more difficult to admit if one is going through mental stress or emotional disturbances owing to personal challenges pertaining to family, relationships or finances. Such things are meant to be handled at home, while the fact still remains that these issues impact one’s performance at work. Organisations need to realise this. Rather than tagging people as non-performers or sloggers, organisations may at times need to consider what these people might be going through in their lives beyond work – or at times may be even at work.

    “It is incredibly hard to be honest about mental health in the typical workplace. In situations such as this, it is so easy to tell your teammates you are ‘not feeling well.’ Even in the safest environment, it is still uncommon to be direct with your co-workers about mental health issues.”

    Ben Congleton

    While most people hesitate to talk about their mental wellbeing, it is crucial for one to sustain and survive —at work, at home, and in life, in general. It is something that needs to be considered vital and essential. It’s time we put mental health on the same pedestal as physical health and talk about it with ease and comfort rather than keeping it under covers.

    Breaking the social barriers, in a recent case, Madalyn Parker, a web developer at a US-based company, Olark Live Chat, emailed her team to let them know she would be using two sick days to focus on her mental health. It was her positive outlook and integrity that made her honestly reveal her reason for taking those two days off, and surprisingly, the CEO of the company, Ben Congleton, responded by thanking her for helping “cut through the stigma” of mental health.

    Congleton aptly mentions in a blog, “It is incredibly hard to be honest about mental health in the typical workplace. In situations such as this, it is so easy to tell your teammates you are ‘not feeling well.’ Even in the safest environment, it is still uncommon to be direct with your co-workers about mental health issues.” He is right. When it comes to organisations in India, the situation is even worse.

    Geethaa Ghaneckar & Prem Singh

    Geethaa Ghaneckar, director-HR, Raymond, agrees that taking a break for a mental or spiritual pursuit is not seen very positively in India. However, she believes that things are changing gradually and that youngsters now seek time off for relaxation and stress-relieving retreats. “Despite the gradual evolution, there is not much awareness around mental health issues and their treatment,” she says.

    People in India, on an average spend more than 8-10 hours a day at work. Organisations need to realise that if undergoing stress in their lives, people tend to carry those issues to work as well. Ghaneckar suggests that, “Organisations should talk about mental wellbeing and encourage people to take remedial action for such issues. This requires organisations to create an open environment where people feel comfortable talking about their mental health.”

    “Organisations should talk about mental wellbeing and encourage people to take remedial action for such issues. This requires organisations to create an open environment where people feel comfortable talking about their mental health.”

    Geethaa Ghaneckar

    In agreement with Ghaneckar, Prem Singh, president-global human resources, Wockhardt, also believes that talking about mental health will be a game-changer. “Only when you talk about something, you allow more possibilities to emerge. Hence, it is important that organisations encourage people to talk about it – be it with their teammates, managers or HR executives.”

    This is possible only if the leadership takesthe  lead. Both Ghaneckar and Singh emphasise that the leadership needs to demonstrate the right behaviour so that people also feel that their mental health is crucial to their performance at work. If leaders share their experiences with people and open up about mental wellbeing, even employees would be able to come out of their shells and discuss and act upon the need for ensuring mental wellbeing.

    “Another way to get organisations to take the right steps in ensuring the mental health of people is through creating a policy around it,” Ghaneckar says. Just as organisations woke up to and acted upon enhancing their maternity benefits after the Indian government rolled out the new Maternity Act, a law or policy around mental wellbeing of working professionals would certainly help change things.

    “Leadership needs to demonstrate the right behaviour so that people also feel that their mental health is crucial to their performance at work. If leaders share their experiences with people and open up about mental wellbeing, even employees would be able to come out of their shells and discuss and act upon the need for ensuring mental wellbeing.”

    Prem Singh

    In addition, Singh believes that bringing about a change in getting people to acknowledge and appreciate the importance of mental health will require three fundamental steps:

    • Recognising the reality
    • Sharing it with people who can help, opening up about it and being comfortable discussing it
    • Acting upon it; taking time off or seeking professional help if need be

    In Madalyn’s case, although she recognised the need for a break to regain her mental health, was upfront in sharing it with co-workers, and took the required time off for the same, it was her CEO’s reaction to the whole situation that is commendable. Employees will only be able to take the aforementioned three steps if the management is supportive enough to allow and encourage people to also focus on their mental health. After all, whether one agrees or not, mental health leave is the same as a sick leave, or may be more important!

    Geethaa Ghaneckar Madalyn Parker Mental Health of Employees Mental Wellness Leave Olark Live Chat Raymond
    Share. LinkedIn Twitter Facebook
    mm
    Prajjal Saha | HRKatha

    Dr. Prajjal Saha, editor and publisher of HRKatha since 2015, leverages over 25 years of experience in business journalism, writing, and editing. He founded HRKatha to provide insightful analysis on the evolving workplace. With expertise spanning HR, marketing, distribution, and technology, Saha has a deep understanding of business dynamics. His authorship of the acclaimed Marketing White Book highlights his versatility beyond HR. A trusted voice across industries, his clear and thoughtful commentary has earned him a reputation for thought leadership, making him a reliable source of knowledge and insights for professionals navigating the complexities of the business world.

    2 Comments

    1. vinisha Jayaswal on July 13, 2017 9:20 am

      I completely agree with Mr. Prem Singh & Ms. Geethaa Ghanekar. Organizations must start talking about mental wellbeing openly. Afterall, all the diseases stem from Mind. If the mind is not given rest, illness will prevail & employees will continue to take sick leave.
      This strikes me that if the term “sick leave” is changed to “Mental wellbeing leave”, I’m sure employees won’t feel so sick and instead take the leave to enhance their mental wellbeing. By just changing a word, the outlook towards the leave changes.
      There are many people in the market offering courses on Mental wellbeing in this stressful day. Let’s reach out to them to make our industry stressfree and ensure mental wellbing.

      Reply
    2. Sangita Kelkar on July 14, 2017 4:20 am

      We at BPCL have our EAP program in place for the last nine years which provides confidential counseling to all employees and their family members to deal with mental health issues. Though efforts are required to make people understand and open up to counseling, this initiative has helped many employees in handling issues in personal and workspace. Many customized interventions focusing on common and specific mental health issues are organized across the regions and locations. Coinciding with World Mental Health Day (10th October) every year, mental health fortnight is celebrated wherein mailers,contests, programs are held that help in improving awareness.

      Reply
    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    nineteen − 6 =

    Related Posts

    Mahindra Holidays turns to local communities for talent as India’s hospitality schools empty out

    July 15, 2025

    Why ‘Centres of Excellence’ can hollow out the very culture they’re meant to strengthen

    July 14, 2025

    How a thumbs-up became a generational minefield

    July 11, 2025

    Why HR must unite hiring and development to survive

    July 10, 2025

    QUICK HR INSIGHTS

    EDITOR'S PICKS

    Mahindra Holidays turns to local communities for talent as India’s hospitality schools empty out

    July 15, 2025

    Why ‘Centres of Excellence’ can hollow out the very culture they’re meant to strengthen

    July 14, 2025

    How a thumbs-up became a generational minefield

    July 11, 2025

    Why HR must unite hiring and development to survive

    July 10, 2025
    Latest Post

    Gaurav Singh takes on chief people and culture officer role at Centricity WealthTech

    Movement July 16, 2025

    Congratulations Gaurav Singh, for taking on the role of chief people and culture officer, Centricity…

    Pidilite Industries partners with 600+ ITIs to skill Indian youth

    Learning & Development July 16, 2025

    Pidilite—the adhesives, sealants, art materials, and construction chemicals manufacturing company— has trained over one lakh…

    Hemant Rupani of Mondelez International will now be CEO, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages

    Movement July 16, 2025

    Come September 8 and Hemant Rupani will take on the role of CEO, Hindustan Coca-Cola…

    Russia to recruit 1 million skilled Indian workers by 2025

    Global HR News July 15, 2025

    Russia has announced plans to hire up to one million skilled professionals from India by…

    Asia's No.1 HR Platform

    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram LinkedIn WhatsApp Bluesky
    • Our Story
    • Partner with us
    • Career
    • Reach Us
    • Exclusive Features
    • Cover Story
    • Editorial
    • Dive into the Future of Work: Download HRForecast 2024 Now!
    © 2025 HRKatha.com
    • Disclaimer
    • Refunds & Cancellation Policy
    • Terms of Service

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.