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Offering flexible working opportunities to people with mental disabilities: The missing link between sustainable development goals and financial implications
Author(s) -
Warmate Zoe,
Eldaly Mohamed Khaled,
Elamer Ahmed A.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
business strategy and the environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.123
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1099-0836
pISSN - 0964-4733
DOI - 10.1002/bse.2694
Subject(s) - government (linguistics) , work (physics) , mental health , sustainable development , business , resource (disambiguation) , public relations , finance , psychology , political science , mechanical engineering , computer network , philosophy , linguistics , law , computer science , engineering , psychotherapist
A global response to Covid‐19 pandemic has triggered issues related to stress and social restrictions; thus, mental health is seen as a particular area of concern for social well‐being for both policymakers and corporate regulators/companies. Given that mental health intersects with most, if not all, of the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), this research brought to light issues surrounding employment of people with mental disabilities (PWMDs) and the financial merits of employing them. An online survey was administered to PWMDs to elicit what possible flexible opportunities could enable them to gain or stay at work. Interviews were also conducted with human resource managers and financial managers. Our results show that there are currently no flexible working opportunities available for PWMDs, which could enable them work effectively to improve both self and general economic growth. The findings of this study will enable employers to explore the financial benefits of employing PWMDs and also aid the government to create better policies to boost employers' commitment to employing PWMDs and achieve some of the UN SDGs.