Supporting staff with their mental health and wellbeing is important and part of an employers’ duty of care. Our guidance can help build your understanding and shares useful tools and resources to support your knowledge.
Table of contents
- Understanding mental health and wellbeing
- Mental health and wellbeing in the workplace
- Your legal duty of care as an employer
- Recognising and responding to individual differences
- Where to go for further support
Understanding mental health and wellbeing
Mental health is our emotional, psychological and social wellbeing. It affects how we think, feel and act.
Wellbeing is how we feel about ourselves, our relationships and our lives. Together, mental health and wellbeing can affect how we handle stress, the choices we make and how we relate to others.
Our mental health and wellbeing aren’t static, they change and vary over time. Some things that can affect this are:
- our circumstances, including past and present life events
- the people in our lives and support networks
- our cultural and social background as well as personal beliefs
- our financial situation
- availability and use of support services and networks
- physical health.
You can find out more about what wellbeing means from What Works for Wellbeing.
Mental health and wellbeing in the workplace
Mental health issues are common in the workplace. In the UK, almost 1 in 7 people experience mental health problems in the workplace. They also account for over 12% of all sickness absence days. Some common mental health issues are depression and anxiety.
Find out more about common mental health problems from Mind.
Positive mental health allows people to work productively, cope with stress and realise their full potential. It contributes to improved staff morale, better individual and team performance, and job satisfaction.
While stress isn’t classed as a medical condition, it can still have a serious impact on wellbeing in the workplace. Long periods of stress can:
- cause physical and mental symptoms
- make existing mental health problems worse
- lead to burnout, an occupational condition.
Use our guidance on managing stress in your organisation to learn more. NCVO members can also download our managing stress policy.
Your legal duty of care as an employer
Employers have a ‘duty of care’. This means you must do all you reasonably can to support the mental health, safety and wellbeing of your employees. This includes:
- making sure the work environment is safe
- protecting staff from discrimination
- carrying out risk assessments.
Making sure the work environment is safe
Workers, volunteers and anyone that comes in contact with the organisation should be protected from anything that may cause harm. The Health and Safety Executive has comprehensive information on how to ensure a safe working space.
Protecting staff from discrimination
Employers have a legal duty to protect staff from any form of discrimination related to protected characteristics. This includes a mental health problem if it’s recognised as a disability. A mental health issue can be considered a disability under the law if it:
- has a ‘substantial adverse effect on the life of an employee’
- lasts at least 12 months or is expected to
- and affects their ability to do their normal day-to-day activities.
A mental health issue can be considered a disability even if there aren’t symptoms all the time. Symptoms can also change in intensity and frequency over time. If an employee has a disability, employers:
- must not discriminate against them because of their disability
- must consider making reasonable adjustments.
For more information about protecting people from discrimination read our Knowhow guidance on the Equality Act and applying it in your organisation.
Carrying out risk assessments
Employers have a duty under health and safety law to carry out risk assessments.
You can find more information about managing health and safety at work and carrying out risk assessments on our website.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has information about risk assessments during coronavirus.
Recognising and responding to individual differences
Social factors and life experiences can also affect in what way, when and how much we experience mental health problems. Research from the Mental Health Foundation shows that some groups are more likely to develop mental health problems than others. These include:
- people in financial difficulties
- people who are discriminated against based on their race, gender and sexual orientation
- LGBT+ people.
Mind has more information on diversity and mental health.
It’s important to learn about how different people and groups experience mental health and wellbeing and what you can do to support them.
Mental Health at Work has several toolkits to support individuals in these groups:
- Making your workplace more autistic friendly.
- How to be antiracist in the workplace.
- LGBTQI+ inclusivity in your organisation.
- Helping staff cope with trauma.
Where to go for further support
- Our HR trusted suppliers can help you in supporting the wellbeing of your staff.
- Small businesses can access the free Health for Work Advice line service provided by NHS occupational health services.
- Mental Health at Work has a mental health toolkit for small workplaces.
- MHFA England run training courses on mental health awareness, mental health skills for managers and mental health first aid.
