Keep Employees Informed About Mental Health Benefits

The MJ Companies| May 8th, 2025

Benefits+, Employee Benefits

Chances are good that you’re paying (and paying a lot) for mental health benefits employees aren’t even aware of. Chances are also good that a number of your plan participants would utilize those services if they were aware of them.

You’re not alone: 25% of employees don’t know whether they have mental health benefits, and 29% aren’t sure whether those benefits are adequate, according to a National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI) poll.

Overall, the poll indicates that employees aren’t sure what employers offer, how to access it, or how it can help them. And that’s quite an issue when you consider that 92% of employees also reported that mental health coverage is a critical factor for ensuring a positive culture at work.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and we’re taking it as an opportunity to encourage solutions to this disconnect.

A Quick Look Into Common Mental Health Benefits

Each year, one in five U.S. adults experience mental illness. Which means you have a lot of good reasons to ensure your employees know which benefits are available and how they can utilize them.

Like so many physical conditions, prevention and early intervention make quite a difference in addressing mental health. Benefits like these can go a long way:

Flexible work arrangements help promote work-life balance, prevent burnout and improve mental wellbeing.

Talk therapy, also known as counseling or psychotherapy, means discussing mental or emotional conditions with a trained professional. Therapy can be helpful at any time, and when it is medically necessary.

Psychiatric care focuses on diagnosing, treating and preventing mental health disorders. Most plans include coverage for psychiatric care, but it varies widely.

Employee assistance programs (EAPs) are work-based programs that help participants deal with personal challenges. Many EAPs provide confidential counseling and educational resources for managing issues such as substance abuse, stress, marital problems and financial concerns.

Mental health days offer paid time off (PTO) to manage emotional wellbeing, just like sick leave offers time for addressing physical illness, Many employers now include mental health under sick leave.

Wellness programs promote healthy lifestyle choices through a mix of programs like health screenings, smoking cessation support and nutrition education.

Gym memberships encourage employees to stay active and healthy. Employers may provide free memberships or discounted access to gyms, yoga studios and other fitness centers.

Mental health first-aid training equips employees to recognize and respond to mental health emergencies so they can confidently assist co-workers in mental distress.

Getting the Word Out to Employees

When employees are well-versed in mental health benefits and access them, they feel better, the workplace culture becomes more cohesive and positive, and both of those contribute to productivity, retention, and job satisfaction.

That ripple effect depends on clear communication about which benefits are available and how to utilize them, because you just can’t maximize the value of your mental health benefits if you haven’t given employees all the tools they need to understand and access those benefits.

Our employee communication and engagement services help you develop a communication strategy and everything that goes into it. We work with you to tailor engaging, easy-to-understand training and educational materials to your team and benefits package.

Clear communication doesn’t just mean sending out the materials and calling it a day. To get the most from your benefits, you need to keep those tools top of mind across your organization. We help make sure each participant is in the know through all stages of their mental health journey with branded content including:

Custom benefit booklets and/or microsites

Educational videos

Enrollment support

Web portals

Consumer advocacy resources

And so much more!

Mental health benefits help your organization be the best it can be, and giving employees all they need to understand those benefits is critical to making the progress you’re working so hard for.