GOVERNMENT Senator Kavan Gayle has called for the inclusion of specific mental health support provisions in collective bargaining agreements and workplace policies as part of the country’s response to an issue that the World Health Organization and local health reports estimate is affecting roughly 20 per cent of Jamaicans at some point.

The trade unionist, who is president general of the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union, made the call in the Senate last Friday when he spoke on the motion for adjournment acknowledging the observance of Mental Health Awareness Month, which ended Saturday.

“We must recognise that a safe workplace is not merely one in which machinery is properly maintained, physical hazards are controlled and accidents are prevented. It must also be one in which psychosocial risks are identified and addressed,” said Gayle.

“From a trade union perspective, I believe mental health must become a more deliberate and substantive feature of industrial relations and collective bargaining,” he added.

Gayle pointed out that traditionally, trade unions have negotiated for improved wages and salaries, pensions, medical benefits, leave entitlements, job security, occupational safety and other conditions of employment. He said these remain essential responsibilities, but “the changing world of work requires us to broaden our approach to worker protection”.

Against this background, the lawmaker urged trade unions and employers to include such provisions in negotiations. The provisions would seek to establish:

* Employee assistance programmes which would ensure confidential access to counselling, psychological support and referrals to qualified professionals;

* Responsible performance management, providing transparent, achievable and evidence-based targets, with regular reviews where workload, staffing or working conditions make targets unreasonable;

* Protection against excessive work-related stress which would establish procedures to identify and address excessive workloads, prolonged working hours, inadequate breaks and sustained high-pressure demands;

* Training for managers and supervisors that would equip those who lead teams to recognise signs of distress, respond appropriately, and refer employees for professional assistance;

* Confidentiality and non-discrimination safeguards against employees being unfairly treated, ridiculed or disadvantaged because they seek mental health support;

* Reasonable workplace accommodations that would ensure appropriate flexibility, adjustments to duties or schedules, and supported return-to-work arrangements where necessary; and

* Joint monitoring and consultation that would see to regular engagement between management and union representatives to identify emerging risks and agree on practical interventions.

Gayle told Parliament that these provisions should not remain vague statements of goodwill. Instead, “They should establish clear responsibilities, access to services, confidentiality safeguards, review procedures, and accountability.”

The Government senator said that in target-driven workplaces, collective agreements should also provide for consultation when major changes in performance measures, digital monitoring, staffing arrangements or work processes could materially increase psychological pressures.

In this regard, he said, “We must ensure that performance management measures performance fairly, rather than rewarding unsustainable working practices”.

“I also encourage the integration of mental health considerations into occupational safety and health policies, employee wellness programmes, and the broader framework for a just transition,” he said, while arguing that as technology changes jobs and transforms the skills required of workers, employers must support not only their technical adaptation but also their psychological adjustment to uncertainty, restructuring, and new demands.

“The worker must not become the casualty of the very transformation intended to make the organisation more efficient. A modern industrial relations framework must protect the whole worker: physically, emotionally and psychologically,” Gayle insisted.

He went further to call for the establishment of a national alliance for mental health awareness, protection, and prevention. He posited that while employers and trade unions have a critical role to play, mental health is too important to be left to any single institution or sector.

The alliance would be “A coordinated, collaborative initiative bringing together the Government, the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Bellevue Hospital, other healthcare providers, the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica, trade unions, professional associations, educational institutions, faith-based organisations, civil society, community groups, and persons with lived experience”.

Gayle explained that the purpose of the alliance would be to move Jamaica from fragmented awareness activities towards a more coordinated national response.

“Mental health is not a private burden to be endured in silence, it is a shared social responsibility that demands understanding, prevention, protection and meaningful support in our homes, our communities and, importantly, our workplaces,” Gayle argued.

“This is a matter that deserves our collective attention because mental health is inseparable from human dignity, family stability, social development, and national productivity,” he added.

He also pointed out that one of the greatest obstacles to addressing mental health in Jamaica is the stigma associated with it.

“Too often, persons experiencing psychological distress are told to be strong, to pray harder, to stop worrying, or to simply get on with life. While faith, family and community support can be valuable sources of strength, they must never become substitutes for appropriate professional care where it is needed,” said Gayle.

“We must stop treating mental health challenges as a character flaw or a personal failure. We must stop ridiculing people who seek counselling and stop using mental illness as an insult. We must recognise that seeking help is an act of courage, not weakness,” he said, pointing out that mental health challenges can affect people from every background, regardless of their income, education, occupation or social standing.

“They can affect the young and the elderly, the employed and the unemployed, the professional and the manual worker, the person who leads an organisation and the person who works quietly behind the scenes. Our responsibility is to replace judgement with understanding, isolation with support, and silence with informed conversation,” he said.