Three-hour mental health first aid (MFHA) training sessions for all the firm’s consultants are a key facet of managing director Craig Burton’s drive to fill a gap in responsibility for the contingent segment of the workforce. 

In November, payslips issued by The Works will include reminders that workers can call their contacts at the company for a chat at any time. Workers will also receive genuine texts at the end of every week to say 'hope you’ve had a great week’ and ask them how they’re doing, Burton told Recruiter. 

Of people who are experiencing problems, he said most tend to say they’re fine when they are not. However, there are workplace signs that can give clues that all is not right in a person’s world: frequent absenteeism, erratic behaviour, disciplinary action, poor diet and substance abuse, for instance.

There were such signs evident before the late contract worker took his life last year, but no one recognised them as a life-and-death issue, Burton said. 

However, the training is not intended to turn consultants into amateur psychiatrists or doctors.

“We’re not going to feel their bumps or try to fix things,” he said. The MHFA steps that consultants will be encouraged to take are: assess risk behaviours, listen, give reassurance and information, and encourage appropriate professional help as well as self-help. 

Burton called on other recruiters to make mental health part of their temporary worker care. “As an industry, we need to be much more in tune with how people are feeling,” he said. “The point is that it’s the right thing to do.”

The Works is also working in collaboration with the Mental Health First Aid Campaign, Thriving Minds and Thrive Law in lobbying government to make it mandatory for any business employing more than 30 people to have a designated mental health first aider.