Recent statistics suggest that stress at work remains a growing problem.
In the UK, around 15.4 million working days each year are lost to stress, depression or anxiety, which accounts for 57 per cent of all absences and costs UK employers between £33bn and £42bn a year.
In addition to the financial costs, the undesirable effects on business of mental ill-health are employee absence; staff turnover; loss of skills and legal and reputational risks.
However, in a recent poll by of more than 1,700 workers with mental health problems – by the charity Mind – it was found that more than two in five people did not realise that they could be missing out on legal protections and helpful adjustments at work.
Of those polled, 44 per cent were unaware that they could be classified as having a disability if their ability to carry out day-to-day tasks were affected and their condition had lasted for - or was expected to last for - 12 months. After hearing the definition of disability - under the Equality Act 2010 - 54 per cent felt they met the criteria.
Vicki Nash - Head of Policy and Campaigns at Mind - stated:
“Among those of us with mental health problems, there is a huge gap in awareness that we could be covered by the Equality Act. This next government must commit to clarifying the definition of a disability under the Act. This will help to protect from discrimination in the first place and - if they are discriminated against on the grounds of a health condition - enable them to challenge this.”
She added that:
“....with the right support, those of us with mental health problems can and do make a valuable contribution to the workplace.”
Rachel Suff - Senior Employment Relations Adviser at the CIPD - said the survey’s findings showed the need for more education and awareness around mental health in the workplace. She said:
“The law doesn’t necessarily help because there’s quite a high bar in terms of a mental health condition meeting the definition in the Equality Act.”
Stating that organisations should not wait for an employee’s condition to be classified as a disability before making reasonable adjustments, she added:
“It’s good practice for employers to make changes to support people’s mental health at work. Most conditions are at the lower end of the mental health spectrum, and just small changes to how they work can make a big difference to their ability to manage that.”
Emma Bartlett - Partner at Charles Russell Speechlys - said:
“Employers do not always understand that they do not need to have been told by the employee about their condition or have received a formal diagnosis for the employer to be fixed with knowledge that the employee should have the benefit of reasonable adjustments and protection from discrimination arising out of their condition.”
She added that every case should be treated individually, stating:
“Normal day to day activities for one person may not be the same for another, so you have to focus on how it affects each individual.”
David Price - CEO of Health Assured - said:
“If an employer were to take action against an employee for reaching pre-set absence levels, or deny an employee an attendance bonus based on a number of absences which included those related to mental health, there is a risk of a discrimination claim. Because of this, employers should think carefully when treating mental health days in the same way as all other sickness absence.”
