Mental health law and policy at the workplace: should more be done post pandemic?

In 2019, 2.3 percent of the Malaysian adult population – amounting to approximately 500,000 persons – were found to be depressed or experience some form of mental health issues. This number is expected to increase eminently as an aftermath of the current COVID-19 pandemic, with companies and employers restructuring their businesses to keep themselves afloat. As such, employees who seek to better secure their jobs commit more to their work with less regard to other aspects of their life including their mental well-being. The finding is that at the end of 2020, 82.5 percent of Malaysian workers across different ethnicities expressed a high level of worry about losing their jobs, consequentially contributes to more stress at work and mental health issues in the workplace. This paper seeks (i) to examine the relevant legislations on mental health (ii) to analyse work related legislations and labour policies and (iii) to determine how supportive they are to individual workers with mental health issues. These issues are determined primarily through doctrinal study, legal gap and content analysis of the relevant legislations and labour policies. A comparative study between Malaysia and several other countries was also undertaken to provide a more holistic perspective on the issues. The outcome of this paper would contribute towards a better understanding of the employees’ mental needs and better regulations of the workplace environment