Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy and Guidance Notes

A comprehensive mental health & wellbeing procedure provides a clear framework for dealing with any mental health concerns or issues, and shows your employees that there is support available if they require it

The procedure is vital to ensure every employee is treated with dignity and respect, and that issues are dealt with fairly, reasonably, and consistently throughout the company. It also ensures that your company will be fully compliant with UK employment law and help to avoid costly and time-consuming tribunal cases

Why is this important?

Most people spend a large portion of their lives at work, so the quality of the working environment and relationships between employees at work has a significant impact on wellbeing. 1 in 4 of your employees on average will be affected by poor mental health at some point in their working life, with stress now the leading cause of sickness absence in the UK (more commonly occurring as a reason for absence than the common cold) with 15.4 million working days lost per year costing over £5 billion in lost productivity. It affects individual employees and their colleagues by impacting on sickness absence, costs of replacing lost hours through agency employees or overtime payments, lost production and increased accidents in the workplace

The additional costs from a working environment which creates poor mental health & wellbeing arise also from ‘presenteeism’ (where employees feel compelled to attend work whilst not mentally fit due to fear of reprisal or ridicule for taking time off for poor mental health, but are significantly less productive due to their poor wellbeing) as well as from sickness absence, lower engagement, and increased employee turnover

There are also 300,000 people with a long-term mental health problem dismissed on average each year, which could result in a loss of knowledge, skills and experience for your company, or potentially costly and damaging Employment Tribunal claims for unfair dismissal, constructive dismissal, or discrimination (where the compensation awarded is unlimited in scope) if an employee with poor mental health is treated poorly or not managed and supported in a professional manner

This policy links to the following packs (available to purchase) which will also include key advice on how best to interpret and implement each policy & procedure, and all relevant forms, documents, letters, process maps and guidance notes:

Recruitment

Contract of Employment & Offer of Employment Letter

Disciplinary

Performance Management

Absence Management

Grievance

Bullying & Harassment

Flexible Working

Holiday & Statutory Leave

Company / Employee Handbook

You can read more about why this is important in our Mental Health and Wellbeing HR Case Study