Supporting employee mental health: what do we need from the Government?

Mental health problems not only create emotional suffering but can also worsen physical health conditions. Working conditions and environment have a huge impact on mental health, and equally, someone’s mental health can significantly affect performing well in their role. Recent research from Deloitte has outlined that poor mental health costs UK employers £51 billion a year for employees. Presenteeism is the largest contributor, where people work in spite of illness and do not perform at their full ability, costing UK employers £24 billion a year.

Photograph: iStock/Delmaine Donson

This demonstrates that there is not only a moral imperative to support employee mental health, but also a clear economic case.

What should the Government do?

Central government has a vital role in ensuring that the structure of our society is conducive to good mental health. This is a job for all government departments and includes making sure that working conditions are adequate. Below, we set out some practical measures the Government could adopt to support employee mental health.

Job insecurity and an adequate income

Poverty and financial hardship are key drivers of poor mental health with the lack of an adequate income detrimental to an individual’s mental health. Good quality work can have a positive impact on an individual’s mental health. Job security and ensuring we have enough money to feed our families, pay our rent/mortgage and energy bills, and maintain a good standard of living are essential for good mental health.

We also know that poorly paid and insecure work also has a negative impact. This is demonstrated in our report on zero-hours contracts and mental health which revealed that being employed on this type of contract is highly associated with reports of poor mental wellbeing. Some particular risk factors of this type of contract include low pay and feelings of powerlessness. Given the implications of low pay and its impact on a person’s mental health, we need further research into links between precarious work and mental health.

Poverty doesn’t only impact those out of employment but is also a real issue for those in employment. No one in employment should be struggling to cover essential living costs. Specifically, we need legislation introduced that reduces job insecurity and in-work poverty for all workers. This includes new rights to more secure work for everyone in employment and for the Real Living Wage as set out by the Living Wage Foundation to be the normal minimum wage paid to employees. This wage must be regularly assessed to consider cost-of-living implications.

This legislation should be supported by a mental health and wellbeing assessment tool which would assess the mental health impact of all government policies, including those designed to tackle the cost of living. This could be similar to the one already utilised by the Department of Health and Social Care, and would be an added measure to support people in work.

Tackling poverty stigma and economic inequality

There is now increasing recognition among policymakers of the impact that poverty stigma can have on communities. For our report considering the Experiences of poverty stigma and mental health in the UK, we conducted a survey of 1,000 people with predominantly lower incomes. In this survey, one in five respondents reported that they had often experienced some type of discrimination or unfair treatment in the past 12 months because they live on a low income.

We need the Government to introduce anti-stigma interventions to challenge negative attitudes and reduce individuals’ exposure to poverty stigma. These interventions to challenge stigma should draw on learning from other types of anti-stigma campaign such as those for mental health stigma. Furthermore, government should provide the support to service providers to consider how services are perceived by people on low incomes and how these services can challenge poverty stigma.

Economic inequality and structural racism

Economic inequality intersects with other disadvantages such as those caused by structural racism. These remain present in the workforce. We must continue to see a review of policies and practices that apply disproportionately to people from racialised communities, including asylum-seekers and refugees.

Asylum-seekers currently do not have the right to work. Without the right to work asylum seekers often rely on their Asylum Support payment from the Home Office to meet their living payments. This means relying wholly on the state for months, even years to avoid destitution.

Yet, granting asylum-seekers the right to work would have considerable economic benefits and would also benefit their mental wellbeing. In 2023, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research estimated that allowing all people seeking asylum the right to work would save the Government £6.7 billion a year, increase tax revenue by £1.3 billion and increase GDP by £1.6 billion. If the Government lifted the right to work restriction for people waiting longer than six months for a decision on their application, this would save the Government a total of £4.4 billion annually, increase tax revenue by £880 million and add £1 billion to GDP.

The Government also needs to work with employers to increase their knowledge of refugees’ rights and ensure they adopt inclusive work practices for refugees. This needs to include their job application processes and working with employers to develop high-quality apprenticeship programmes for refugees to help them secure employment and earn a living.

Trauma-informed workforce

Trauma is a major risk factor for poor mental health and can impact an individual’s ability to work. In recent years, understanding of trauma has grown enormously. There is both a greater awareness of its prevalence in society and deeper knowledge of its long-term effects on survivors.

Photograph: iStock/Highwaystarz-Photography

However, this should only be the start. Our workplaces need to become trauma-informed. This means listening to and valuing people’s stories by creating safe spaces to talk, by showing an understanding of the traumas people have experienced and by responding to their needs without creating new traumas. This could be enhanced by introducing a trauma-informed workforce programme for England, similar to that which is being delivered in Scotland. This would provide employers with the information needed to implement this approach.

Comprehensive cross-governmental plan

Ultimately, given that the social determinants of mental ill health fall within different departments, we know that it is only through a cross-governmental approach that we can make consequential progress. To bring all of this together, we need a comprehensive, cross-government plan that acknowledges how to prevent mental health problems, alongside the funding to make it happen. This will set out how all the different parts of government can work together to improve the population’s mental health. 

Next steps

We have seen some good initial steps from the Labour administration in its first King’s Speech. Notably, there is a commitment to the introduction of an Employment Rights Bill within the first 100 days of this new Parliament and a desire to make work pay. This draft legislation pledges to ban exploitative zero-hours contracts and to make sure that the minimum wage is a genuine living wage.

It will also introduce basic workers’ rights from day one. These are positive developments and aspects that we outlined in our previous section. Additionally, the Draft Equality Bill which will enshrine in law the full right to equal pay for ethnic minorities and disabled people and to introduce mandatory ethnicity and disability pay reporting is long overdue.

Yet, there is clearly more that needs to be done. A Budget is imminent at the end of October, which provides an opportunity for the Government to build on these existing commitments. We alongside many others will be watching with interest.

Michael Hough is policy and public affairs officer at Mental Health Foundation.

For more information see:

mentalhealth.org.uk

@mentalhealth

facebook.com/mentalhealthfoundation