MENTAL HEALTH & WELLBEING IN THE WORKPLACE
Dated: 03/05/2011
Right now, 1 in 6 UK workers is experiencing depression, anxiety or stress.
Mind, the leading mental health charity in England and Wales, is actively encouraging discussion amongst employers about mental health and wellbeing at work, and is pleased to announce the launch of the second phase of a five year national employment campaign ‘Taking Care of Business’.
14th to 21st May 2011 will see a burst of activity designed to offer guidance on creating and sustaining mentally healthy workplaces amongst both employers and employees. The launch of the first phase reached over 15 million people via the media, and an additional 5,000 employers received Mind’s guide on mentally healthy workplaces.
Mind believes that developing and maintaining good mental health at work is neither costly nor unattainable, but simply requires education and support. In fact, recent Mind research tells us that stress has forced one in five workers to call in sick at some point, but 93 per cent of these admit that they did not disclose the actual reason for their absence for fear of discrimination. Clearly, this hidden problem has a profound impact on both employees and employers…but it doesn’t have to be this way.
This year, the campaign will focus on discrimination and disclosure, and will offer guidance to employers on how to respond appropriately to employees who disclose personal experiences of mental distress in the workplace. The campaign will also explore the reasons why mental distress remains a taboo subject in the workplace while seeking to identify workable solutions for employers.
Andrea Woodside, a Trustee of Mind, will be speaking to EAPA about this year’s campaign and highlighting findings from Mind’s recent research on workplace wellbeing. There will also be an opportunity to discuss guidelines for creating action plans with employers who want to address stigma and discrimination at work as well as the opportunity to become a ’Taking Care of Business’ campaign champion, joining supporters such as BT, Veolia, AXA, British Chambers of Commerce, Trades Union Congress, and Marsh, to name a few.
To learn more about the campaign, please visit www.mind.org.uk/work or watch the film.
