A third of employers are still not talking about mental health

A third of employers are still not talking about mental health

In the second year of the global pandemic — when more employees were struggling with the fall-out from all the initial threats and disruption, the disconnection from routines and colleagues, and no end to problems in sight — all employers would have been expected to step up their attention to people’s wellbeing.

Through a YouGov poll, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) asked employers whether they had talked in person to staff about mental wellbeing in the past year. 

Making contact

The survey findings, gathered in time for February’s ‘Time to Talk Day’, showed that more than a third, 35% had not brought the subject up with people (3% didn’t know or couldn’t remember, and another 3% preferred not to say).

In response, Acas has called for employers to make sure they are “approachable, available and encourage team members to talk”, as well as keeping in regular contact with remote and hybrid workers. It has also highlighted the importance of meeting individual needs for different methods of talking — via phone, email or video call.

Value of being pro-active

“The past two years have seen a real focus from HR teams on wellbeing as a whole — but that doesn’t mean the box has been ticked on mental health,” says EAPA UK chair Eugene Farrell. “Occasional awareness campaigns aren’t enough.”

“Steep rises in the use of EAP services in 2021 have been one signal of how employees have needed professional support and people to talk with confidentially. Our latest research at EAPA also shows how the more pro-active employers are in promoting their EAP the bigger the ROI, £8.00 for every £1.00 spent on average, but up to more than £15.00 for some of the most engaged EAP-users.”

A third of employers are still not talking about mental health – EAPA UK