Warners held our Workplace Wellbeing event with Sevenoaks District Chamber of Commerce and west Kent Mind, in March, Stress Awareness month followed in April and Mental Health Awareness Week is 13-19 May 2024, run by the Mental Health Foundation. This year’s theme is “Movement: moving for our mental health” and organisations are being encouraged to wear green.
Movement is important for our mental health but often, it can be a struggle to move around enough in our daily work routine, particularly if you are at a desk for most of the day! Even a short burst of 10 minutes’ brisk walking can boost your mood and increase mental alertness.
In March 2024 NHS England released figures confirming mental health referrals have risen by half a million in the past three years.
Mental health research from Deloitte in March 2022 revealed:
With one in four of us likely to experience a mental health problems in any given year and ever increasing costs to employers, increased wellbeing awareness in the workplace is needed among employers to create a supportive environment for employees and help to minimise disruption to business.
What workplace issues are there?
Post-pandemic changes in working patterns and increased financial uncertainty are negatively impacting employee mental health in and outside of work.
Poor wellbeing can lead to:
All of the above can impact on your business in many different ways, it may result in prolonged absences which impact on production, a decline in standards of work, poor working relationships and a negative work environment.
It is important to avoid this and promote a positive, healthy work environment, deal with any issues that arise quickly and provide adequate training to line managers to understand these issues and how to address them appropriately whilst being aware of possible risks to the business.
Why should employers address this?
A proactive, caring approach to employees’ wellbeing, both physical and mental, generates loyalty and stability. Wellbeing of staff is a fundamental element as to how well a business functions or performs.
The key issue for Employers and for line managers to be aware of is that mental health issues may be an impairment which is deemed to be a qualifying disability and therefore a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010. This may mean that you are under a duty to make reasonable adjustments where elements of work place an employee at a substantial disadvantage. Employers may also be held vicariously liable for discriminatory acts carried out by employees in the course of their employment, regardless of whether you approve or knew of it!
No period of continuous service is required for an employee to bring a disability discrimination claim and if successful the compensation that may be awarded is uncapped with the highest award made in 2022/2023 of £1,767,869!
Workplace tips
Many employers are already doing lots of great things, take the opportunity to use Mental Health Awareness Week to promote wellbeing in your workplace with a focus on mental health issues and what you as a business are already doing or will do to support employees.
Key things to think about are:
What are Warners doing?
We supported West Kind Mind last year with their Wear It Blue campaign. This year we are supporting the Mental Health Foundation by asking Warners staff to wear green and join us on our ‘Moment To Move Morning’ by encouraging staff to move away from their desks and move around for a cuppa and catch up with colleagues.
Nominated staff are also available at any time to talk to plus we have an App which provides wellbeing, meditation, breathing and mindfulness information. We also provide sessions with a qualified counsellor at the firm’s expense.
