Plan to help workers understand national workplace wellness policy

A three-year strategy to get Barbadian workers to take their wellness seriously has been introduced as part of a National Workplace Wellness Policy, Minister of Labour Colin Jordan has announced.

He told journalists in a briefing at the ministry’s Warrens Office Complex headquarters that a National Workplace Wellness Committee has devised a comprehensive action plan focusing on three key phases to promote a deeper understanding of the policy.

Jordan outlined the strategic approach, detailing each phase’s objectives.

“Year one [will focus] on awareness building and a promotional campaign on wellness in the workplace. Like I said, wellness impacts people, and if this is to be more than theory, if it’s to be more than a minister ticking a box and saying, ‘Well, my legacy is that I developed a policy,’ but the people to whom the policy is intended to impact, are not impacted, do not benefit, then we have wasted a lot of time.

“Year two then targets stakeholders and [gets] stakeholders engaged. In Year three, we will focus on the rollout of a wellness support implementation plan. That is then to assist the employing organisations with their own programming,” he explained.

The policy encompasses nine dimensions, spanning physical, psychological/mental, environmental, social, intellectual, occupational, spiritual, cultural, and financial wellness. Jordan underscored the importance of prioritising mental wellness, particularly in light of increasing mental health concerns post-COVID-19.

Acknowledging the stigma surrounding mental health issues, the labour minister highlighted the need to fight stereotypes in workplaces. He stressed the significance of recognising mental wellness as a vital aspect of overall health and urged employers and workers to embrace initiatives promoting mental well-being.

“I am not sure as a people that we have even gotten to mental health, I think we are still at mental illness….. Coordinator [Rhonda] Farley, part of her remit has to do with removing stigma generally in workplaces. [We] started with HIV/AIDS but there is stigma in a list of areas including anything related to the mind,” Jordan said.

The minister said the idea of a Mental Health Day has been suggested.

“It is really intended to say to employers and to workers that there ought to be some time when you go into this destigmatised place, to understand that mental wellness or mental health is something important,” he said.

To complement the ministry’s educational endeavours, forthcoming initiatives include the launch of social media pages and a dedicated website to facilitate public access to relevant resources.

While Jordan clarified that the policy is not legally binding and will not face stringent enforcement measures, he expressed confidence in employers’ willingness to adopt the initiative voluntarily.

“We believe that most people would want to do the right thing,” he told reporters. “[With] the implementation, we use the 4Es method – Educate, Enable, Engage, and Encourage – and that is the route that we are going.”

“We believe that the public sensitisation and the public awareness is going to be important because those persons who we reach are workers. So while we do it from a ministry end, from a labour movement end, we expect that workers will also be demanding in their organisations that there will be programmes put in place – obviously to suit the size and the ability of the organisation – [and] there will be some kind of steps taken to put wellness policies in place.”
(SB)