Equality and Human Rights Commission

Mental health conditions are widespread and most of us will either experience one, or know someone who has experienced one. One in four adults in the UK experience at least one diagnosable mental health condition in any one year.

In 2008 the Commission’s Who Do You See? research found that people with mental health conditions are one of the most discriminated against groups in Wales with:

• 37 per cent of people being unhappy if their close relative married someone with a mental health condition
• Only 40 per cent of people thinking that people with a mental health condition are suitable to be Primary School teachers

Following these findings we have been working in partnership with mental health experts from the voluntary sector and equality practitioners in the public sector to address mental ill health in the workplace.

Why is mental health a workplace issue?

• Most people with mental health conditions are in paid employment and are almost as likely to be working as anyone else.
• Employers should expect to find that at any one time nearly one in six of their workforce is affected by a mental health condition
• The combined costs of sickness absence, non-employment, effects on unpaid work and output losses in the UK is £26 billion a year

‘I wasn’t prepared to accept that’ tells the real life story of David and his experiences of mental ill health and work

You can also read the transcript of David's film.

What can employers do?

We are encouraging employers to take action using our guidance and awareness-raising materials. With our partners we have looked at what makes effective policy and practice, defined the business case and agreed a strategy to promote the guidance to others.

We have developed a set of tools which you can use in your workplace to tackle sickness absence and address the stigma associated with mental health conditions.

• Mental health is your business - guidance for developing a workplace policy
• James' story handout
• Resources for trade union representatives
• Mental health workplace policy presentation

Making sure that your workplace has an effective mental health policy for staff means that mental ill health can be managed more effectively benefiting both employer and staff member. Effective practice can reduce sickness absence, improve productivity and decrease recovery time. By supporting valued members of staff, you are retaining skills, knowledge and experience, which can be very difficult to replace.