Approximately one in 6 people in the UK suffer from some form of mental health issue. In 2023/24 (the latest available statistics from the Office of National Statistics), 16.4 million working days were lost to work-related mental health issues including stress, depression and anxiety, with sufferers taking on average 21.1 days off.
Positive employer attitudes towards mental health at work are associated with having a happy and effective workforce, low sickness absence rates and low staff turnover. Negative attitudes are associated with low productivity, high sickness rates and low morale. Supporting employee mental health, therefore, has several benefits.
Mental health is changeable and unique
Mental health is unique to the individual and the support they’re offered should be too. What works for one might not for another and any conversation around mental health support must recognise this and involve input from the individual affected.
It may be that the employee doesn’t know what they need. Poor mental health can impact our ability to think clearly and, especially if they haven’t experienced poor mental health before, they might not know what to do. Line managers, as we see later, play a crucial role in making sure they access what they need.
Mental health is also changeable. There can be both good and bad days. Flexibility should therefore be built into mental health support measures, so they remain useful. They should also be regularly reviewed and adapted when necessary.
Mental health, the Equality Act and the duty to make reasonable adjustments
The Equality Act defines disability as a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial (ie more than trivial) and long-term adverse effect (long-term meaning lasting, or expected to last, for at least 12 months) on an individual’s ability to carry out normal, day-to-day activities.
This is a legal test applied by a tribunal, although a doctor or other health practitioner (such as occupational health) can also give their opinion. It is the tribunal, after all, that would decide whether an individual is disabled and has been subject to discrimination because of it. For that reason, it’s not recommended to wait for a formal diagnosis when it is reasonably obvious that an individual has a physical or mental health issue that is having a substantial and long-term impact.
The Act places a legal duty on employers to prevent discrimination at work and to foster positive attitudes towards diversity. As such, throughout the employee life cycle — from recruitment to termination — employers must ensure their practices are free of discrimination.
There is also a duty to help disabled individuals at work by removing the barriers that stand in their way by making “reasonable adjustments”.
Acas provides guidance for employers on mental health reasonable adjustments and recommend employers consider reasonable adjustments for all employees who are struggling, not just those “disabled” under the Act, to prevent escalation of mental health problems and support the individual to stay in work.
The Acas guide highlights area in which adjustments should be considered, including:
- any area of work
- changes to someone’s physical working environment
- changes to someone’s working arrangements
- finding a different way to do something
- adapting the way policies are applied
- providing equipment, services or support.
An occupational health review can help to determine suitable adjustments.
Line managers play a crucial role in supporting employee mental health
Due to their close relationship with their direct reports, line managers are ideally situated to identify early on employees that may be struggling with their mental health.
Encouraging open communication helps to get employees to open up about their mental health and get the support they need, but changes in people’s behaviours can also indicate a problem. Line managers should therefore be trained on the early warning signs that an employee is experiencing poor mental health. These can include:
- increases in unexplained absences or sick leave
- poor performance
- poor timekeeping
- withdrawal from social interaction
- poor judgment/indecision
- constant tiredness or low energy
- unusual displays of emotion, such as frequent irritability.
However, line managers may not have the skills they need to support employee mental health. They may not know what to say or what their obligations are and so training is important. Information such as how to access any employee assistance programme, whether counselling is available through the employer and the rules on time off to attend medical appointments is all beneficial. Training should also cover the legal duty to make reasonable adjustments and what line managers must do in relation to them.
Managers should not be alone in dealing with employee mental health, but should be supported by others, such as HR or senior leaders. If there are mental health first aiders within the business, working with them to support the employee is likely to have a more positive impact.
Offer practical support for employee mental health
There are various practical changes that can be made for employees who are struggling with their mental health.
For example, adjusting working hours or schedules can help with a specific problem. Allowing paid or unpaid leave for medical appointments can also reduce stress.
When it comes to the physical working environment, minimising noises can benefit those who are struggling. This may be by providing private offices, room dividers or partitions or even reducing the volume of telephone ring tones. A quiet space for breaks can also be a positive change.
Other physical solutions that can help support metal health at work — depending on the needs of the individual — can include offering a reserved parking space, providing increased personal space or moving a workstation, eg so that the employee does not have their back to a door.
Other workload support measures can include more frequent supervision, help in prioritising work, managing work flows so that the worker only focuses on one task at a time and job sharing.
Further interventions may involve providing a job coach, buddy or mentor system. One very important step can be to provide adjustments and proper mediation if there are difficulties between colleagues that are causing an individual stress that is detrimental to their mental health.
Absence management and mental health
Effective absence management helps to reduce the time an employee spends away from work sick and minimise the impact of sickness absence on the organisation. It is recommended to have a policy on absence management which includes special adaptations for when an employee is struggling with their mental health. It may be necessary, for example, to adjust absence triggers for disability-related mental health absences.
A structured return to work is also important following a mental health-related absence. Meeting with the employee prior to their return, for extended absences, or on their return for short-term absences, is recommended to discuss their needs and to review any fit notes issued by their GP. This is in order to understand the effects that the mental health condition may have on the employee and what adjustments may be required, such as a phased return. There may be medication side effects that could affect them and others at work, and these will need to be considered. A tailored adjustment agreement may be helpful to document reasonable adjustments and to provide a reference point for future discussions.
Conclusion
Mental health continues to be a serious issue for many people in the UK and for the employers they work for. Putting measures in place to support employee mental health not only helps to meet the duty under the Equality Act, but also helps to minimise the duration and impact of sickness absence, as well as supporting affected employees to stay in, and be productive at, work.
