Mental Health in the workplace
Every single employee that you have, will be effected by varying degrees of mental health issues, just in the same way they will at some point be effected by physical health issues, the variable is the severity of effect it has upon them, with regards to mental health, it is continually quoted that 1 in four people in the UK will be effected in a severe way in some point in their life.One in four sick notes are now stated being due to a mental health, rather than a physical health reason, the reality however is possibly much larger due to the remaining stigma of speaking out about mental health issues.
Its reported that stress and poor mental health costs UK businesses an estimated £34.9 billion each year, equating to around £1,300 per employee per year and resulting in 15.8 million sick days. However mental health rarely forms part of a company’s Health and Safety Policy and line managers are rarely trained to identify and address.
Under UK law, employers have a ‘duty of care’ to protect the health, safety and welfare of all employees while at work. They also have to assess the risks arising from hazards at work including work-related stress.
Where low levels of stress can generally be a positive motivation, excessive levels have a very negative affect on the person and the company.