Employees with mental disorders seeking support from the workers compensation system - experiences from Denmark

Area of Science:

• Occupational health psychology
• Social insurance law
• Mental health services research

Background:

• Psychosocial hazards are recognized in Europe as influencing employee mental health.
• Mental disorders are typically not recognized as occupational diseases within workers' compensation systems.
• The workers' compensation claims process itself can negatively impact employee health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the experiences of employees with work-related mental disorders seeking compensation.
• To understand claimant interactions with the Danish Workers' Compensation System.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative interviews with 13 claimants.
• Quantitative questionnaire survey with 436 claimants.

Main Results:

• Lack of preventive health and safety initiatives and stakeholder involvement (e.g., health and safety representatives) at workplaces.
• Negative experiences with management involvement and infrequent workplace inspections by authorities.
• Inadequate information and poor coordination among stakeholders in the workers' compensation process.

Conclusions:

• A more supportive and coordinated approach is needed within the Workers' Compensation System.
• Evaluating processes using the Social Insurance Literacy concept can improve claimant support.
• Reducing potential harm during the claims process is crucial for vulnerable employees.