Mental Health Information Privacy and Equality in the Workplace Project

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Organization

McGill, Faculty of Law, Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism

Published

2015

Project Leader(s)

Colleen Sheppard, Director, McGill Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism

Derek Jones, Professor, McGill Research Group on Health and Law

Summary

Mental health in the workplace has emerged as a pressing and substantial issue for workers and families, management and institutions, occupational health professionals and insurers, and health and human rights. A Report from the Canadian Senate in 2004 explains: “one-third to one-half of people with mental illnesses report being turned down for a job for which they were qualified, after they disclosed their conditions, were dismissed from their jobs, and/or were forced to resign as a result of their mental illness.” Recent Canadian and international reports echo and document the phenomena as a global issue. Drawing on human rights privacy and equality norms, comparative international research and interdisciplinary literature, the Mental Health Information Privacy and Equality in the Workplace Project (MEHIP) identifies leading issues, questions, good practices and standards, towards the establishment of just and enabling guidance on mental health information privacy and equality rights in the workplace. The project seeks to answer questions such as: How can we more effectively respond to health information privacy, disclosure and safety reporting issues?  How can we address the stigmatization dynamics associated with mental health problems in the workplace?  And what are the accommodation and non-discrimination duties of employers?

This document is available in the following language(s):

English

• English (HTML document)

OPC Funded Project

This project received funding support through the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s Contributions Program. The opinions expressed in the summary and report(s) are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. Summaries have been provided by the project authors. Please note that the projects appear in their language of origin.

Contact Information

Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism
Chancellor Day Hall
3644 Peel Street
Montreal, Quebec
CANADA H3A 1W9

Email: human.rights@mcgill.ca
Website: https://www.mcgill.ca/humanrights/