Mental health support that works your hours

More common than the buzz of a busy floor lets on. Between 2006 and 2017, 417 hospitality workers in Australia died by suicide, with chefs among the hardest hit. Chefs take their own lives at almost four times the rate of workers in non-hospitality jobs. Substance use is high too. Around 31.9% of hospitality workers drink alcohol at risky levels, almost one in three, and accommodation and food services has the highest rate of past-year illicit drug use of any Australian industry, at 27.6% of workers. These are not rare cases. Chances are someone on your team is doing it tough right now, and an EAP gives them a private way to talk before it gets worse.

It is rarely one thing. Long and unsociable hours, the intensity of service, demanding customers and thin job security all stack up. Hospitality has the highest casual rate of any industry at 58%, well above the national average of 19%, so for most of your team the next roster is never guaranteed. Pay is tight as well, with a median of $1,300 a week against the all-industries median of $1,741, which makes money stress a constant. Add a culture where after-shift drinks are normal and pushing through is expected, and people often do not reach out until they are in real trouble. An EAP gives your team a simple, confidential way to talk things through early.

An Employee Assistance Program gives your team free, professional counselling for whatever is weighing on them, whether that is burnout, sleep, relationships, money worries, grief or risky drinking. With Talked, your people book a session with a qualified Australian psychologist or counsellor and talk by video, phone or message, around shifts and rosters. For a venue, the payoff is practical. Support that lands early keeps your best people well and on the floor, cuts the churn that drains hospitality, and protects the service your customers come back for. It also helps you meet your duty of care, all of which shows up in lower turnover costs and a steadier team.

Confidentiality is what makes people feel safe enough to reach out, so it is built into everything. What an employee discusses with their counsellor stays between them and the clinician. As the employer you never see who booked a session or what was raised, only anonymous, aggregate usage and wellbeing data. The single exception is a serious risk to someone's safety, which clinicians are legally required to act on. In a small venue where everyone knows everyone, that privacy matters even more, and it is exactly why your team will actually use the service.

You get clear, confidential reporting that shows uptake and the themes your team is reaching out about, all de-identified so no individual is ever named. For a single venue or a multi-site group, that means you can see where pressure is building, whether it is fatigue in the kitchen, customer aggression on the floor or alcohol-related concerns, and act before it costs you good staff. The reporting also gives you an audit trail that you are managing psychosocial risk, which helps with your duty-of-care obligations. We help you launch it with simple resources your managers can put up in the staff room and talk through at a pre-service briefing.

Quickly, which matters when a hospitality crisis does not wait for a clinic to open. There are no waitlists. Once your venue is set up, your people get a simple link or code, book online in a few minutes, choose a counsellor and connect by video, phone or message. There is no GP referral and no long forms, and support is available outside standard hours, so a late finish or an early prep shift does not get in the way. Casual staff who move between your venues get the same fast access wherever they are working.