Nearly a third suffer mental health issues in employment

The number of people saying that they have experienced mental health issues while in employment has climbed from a quarter to a third over the last five years.

The findings have emerged from new research by the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development), which found that in 2016, almost a third (31%) of over 2,000 employees surveyed said they have experienced a mental health problem at some point during their working life, compared with a quarter (26%) in 2011.

Of those who have had experienced poor mental health at work, more than four in ten (42%) have suffered a problem in the past 12 months, to the extent it has affected their health and wellbeing. 

Despite this increase, the number of respondents who said their organisation supports employees with mental health issues either ‘very’ or ‘fairly well’ remains less than half (46%). While this is a significant improvement of nine percentage points since 2011 – when just 37% of respondents said their organisation was able to support employees either fairly or very well – it suggests that there is still a significant way for employers to go to better support staff with mental health issues. Worryingly, just four in ten employees (44%) would currently feel confident disclosing unmanageable stress or mental health problems to their current employer or manager, a similar proportion as reported five years ago (41%).

Rachel Suff, Employment Relations Adviser at the CIPD, commented on the findings: “With people’s experiences of mental health problems at work on the increase, it’s disappointing not to see more employers stepping up to address them. Mental health should get just as much attention, awareness and understanding as physical health, and employers have a responsibility to manage stress and mental health at work, making sure employees are aware of, and able to access, the support available to them.”

The CIPD’s survey also asked employees what types of support their employer currently provides to manage and help people with mental health problems. The most common provisions were: phased return to work (32% of employees); access to flexible working arrangements (30%); access to occupational health services (27%); and access to counselling services (27%).

Emma Mamo, Head of Workplace Wellbeing at mental health charity Mind, added: “It’s clear that there’s a high prevalence of mental health problems among employees. It’s good to see more people feeling comfortable enough to let their workplace know when they’re struggling with their mental health, which is likely to be an indication that employers are fostering an open culture where staff feel able to disclose their problems.

“Creating mentally healthy workplaces needn’t be difficult or expensive, often it’s about putting in place small adjustments, such as regular communication and flexible working hours.”