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Research reveals eight–in–10 UK businesses do not have any policy regarding employees’ mental health

Time–off with mental illness costs £9 billion annually

Britain’s bosses badly under–estimate the extent to which their employees and fellow managers are suffering from stress, anxiety, depression and other forms of mental ill health, which are costing business more than £9 billion a year in lost time. There is also widespread discrimination and prejudice in the workplace against employees who have taken time off work because of a mental health condition. Most businesses don’t have effective policies or provision to manage their employees’ mental health.

These are the disturbing key findings of national research among a representative sample of 550 directors of British businesses and senior managers of public sector organisations. The research was carried out for Shaw Trust, a charity that is the UK’s leading provider of employment and training opportunities for disabled and disadvantaged people, working with both employers and individuals alike.

The research revealed a lack of understanding about mental health in the workplace and that even in today’s more enlightened society there is still a stigma attached to mental health problems. However, it also found that most directors recognise industry needs help to deal with the issues. The summary findings are:

• company directors badly under–estimate the likely incidence of mental ill health amongst employees and colleagues and the implications for their business. Around three–in–every–10 employees will experience stress, depression or some other form of mental ill health in any year*. Yet only around one–in–six employers recognise this national average is likely to apply to their people. Almost half of the employers surveyed thought that none of their employees would be suffering any form of mental ill health at any point in their working lives. Almost three quarters of all employers thought that the incidence of mental ill health amongst their workforce would be 5 per cent or less. Surprisingly, even among large companies as many as one–in–10 directors believed that none of their employees would have a mental health issue at any point during their working lives. [*Source: MIND, Stress and Mental Health in the Workplace, May 2005],

• workplace attitudes indicate widespread discrimination and prejudice towards people who have suffered from mental ill health. A daunting one–in–five employers admits to believing that employees who have been off work with stress, depression or some form of mental ill health for more than a few weeks are unlikely ever to recover. One–in–three thinks they are less reliable. A similar number say that negative attitudes from co–workers are a major barrier to employing people with any form of mental health problems. Around a half think that organisations take significant risks when employing them, or keeping them, in public or client facing roles. There was no significant difference in responses between small businesses and large employers,

• the cost to business of not managing mental health in the workplace is huge. Absence due to mental ill health is costing as much as £9 billion in salary, with a further cost in terms of lower productivity. This is a conservative estimate based on calculations of days of absences and average salary,

• many employers do not understand what mental health is. One–in–three directors could not mention any specific condition, such as stress, depression or anxiety, when asked what disorders they thought of in connection with mental health in the workplace. There was little difference between the proportion of small company directors and large employers who didn’t know,

• only about 3 per cent of all directors think their company has a policy that is effective to deal with stress and mental ill health in the workplace. Eight–in–10 say their company has no policy at all. Seven–in–10 admit to not knowing enough about their legal position and obligations relating to mental health,

• most companies don’t have effective provision to identify and manage mental health issues. One–in–three companies do not use any of the standard ways to monitor stress levels of employees on an ongoing basis. Only about one–in–five of the employers surveyed made any sort of accommodation for employees with mental ill health,

• around eight–in–10 directors believe British industry loses a lot of talent because it doesn’t know how best to deal with mental health in the workplace and they recognise they need more support.

We all experience stress and anxiety. For some people, these and other forms of mental ill health reach levels which impact on their work and wider life.

Tim Cooper, managing director of Shaw Trust, said, “Mental health is probably the last workplace taboo. Society has confronted discrimination on the basis of age, gender, race, sexual orientation and religion, but there is a worrying lack of understanding about mental health and it is not often openly discussed. There is still workplace discrimination towards people who have suffered mental ill health, although it may not be deliberate or conscious. It wastes ability, talent and skills and spoils lives.

”The attitudes that emerge from our research might account for why so many employees try to soldier on and cope with stress, depression, anxiety or other conditions and in many cases risk making their situation worse, rather than telling their boss about their problem, although they would not hesitate to take time off for a physical illness. The attitude that people who have taken more than a few weeks off work for mental health reasons are unlikely ever to recover fully or that they will be less reliable is illogical. We readily accept people recover from physical illness so where is the basis to believe they cannot recover from mental ill health if it is recognised and addressed?

“It is widely accepted that around three–in–every–10 employees will experience some form of mental ill health in any one year and that around one–in–four of the population will experience mental ill health at some point in their life. That is too many people to put at serious disadvantage because of lack of understanding and prejudice.”

                           
Shaw Trust intends to work with partner organisations to develop a range of support services for employers and employees. These solutions are being developed under four main themes:

• to increases awareness of the scale and prevalence of mental ill health and the implications for business,

• assistance in preventing the development of mental ill health and approaches to promoting mental health in the workplace,

• early warning systems that allow potential mental health issues to be identified and managed,

• workplace support services including training and guidance for line managers, specialist occupational health support, vocational rehabilitation support and condition management programmes.

It is able to offer employers immediate support to raise levels of understanding of mental health in the workplace. It also offers a recruitment service to help employers wanting to achieve a more diverse workforce and a staying in work service to help employees.

Employers who want to know more about the research or to be kept informed of the support services that are being developed by Shaw Trust can visit the microsite at: www.shaw-trust.org.uk/mentalhealth.

• Shaw Trust partners are: the Employers’ Forum on Disability and Business in the Community and corporate partners, BT, BUPA, GlaxoSmithKline, HSBC, Merrill Lynch and UnumProvident. The research was conducted on behalf of Shaw Trust by Future Foundation, who interviewed 550 employers among small, mid–sized and large businesses. The interviews were conducted with chief executives and directors, including a control group of 50 HR directors.

Read Shaw Trust's regular editorial column in Communicator online and magazine.

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