Mental Health in the Workplace: UK Laws & Regulations
Wednesday, 29th June 2022
When you think about the health of your workforce, their physical wellbeing probably first comes to mind. But what about employee mental health? Poor mental health can have a huge impact on happiness in the workplace, your employees’ ability to do their job, and even the number of sick days they take.
As a workplace manager, it’s your responsibility to safeguard the mental health of your staff. In this article, we’ll examine your legal responsibilities, according to UK mental health regulations.
What is mental health?
The World Health Organisation defines health as the ‘state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’. That means that someone with good mental health should be able to work productively and contribute to their workplace effectively—not be merely just not unwell.
But poor mental health is common. As many as one in four people will have issues with their mental health at some stage in their lives. And of the most common mental health issues, approximately one in ten people will suffer from anxiety and/or depression.
Crucially for workplace managers, the work environment can have a big impact on people’s mental wellbeing. In our Hybrid Workplace: Return to Work 2022 report, Infogrid found that 55% of employees say their mental health is affected by the health of the workplace.
What UK law says about mental health
These statistics suggest that it’s very likely that some members of your team will struggle with mental health issues. As their manager, your job is to provide the right environment and resources so that they can still thrive.
Here’s what the law states your responsibilities are:
Under the Health and Safety at Work. Act 1974, Section 2, you have a duty of care to safeguard the health, safety and welfare of your employees:
‘It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees.’
This sounds like quite a broad requirement, and it definitely is that. But a newer law, the Equality Act of 2010, has now been passed and is more specific in its scope.
Disability discrimination and the Equality Act (2010)
The Equality Act is there to protect workers from discrimination, including those who have a physical or mental disability.
To be protected under the Equality Act, someone doesn’t need to have a particular mental health condition. But if their mental health affects their life substantially enough, it is nonetheless considered a disability.
For example, stress in itself is not a mental health condition, but many related conditions, such as anxiety and depression, are considered a disability according to the Equality Act (2010).
It’s illegal for employers to treat their employees unfairly because they’re disabled (Citizens Advice, UK). For example, employers must make reasonable adjustments so that they can carry out their work effectively.
ACAS, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service for the UK, gives some examples of adjustments that could be deployed in the workplace to help protect employee mental health:
More frequent rest breaks
Regular meetings to help an employee prioritise their workload
Accessible car parking
Phased returns to work for those returning after a prolonged absence due to their disability
From a manager’s perspective, these adjustments may seem like just an extra thing to do. But even relatively small things, such as more frequent rest breaks, can make a huge difference to your employees' wellbeing.
It’s thought that work-related stress accounts for 30-40% of sickness absences every year. So, as a workplace manager, it’s in your interest to do everything possible to safeguard the mental health of your workforce.
What can you do to boost mental health in the workplace?
As a manager, you can’t control every aspect of your employees’ life (and nor would they want you to). But there are things you can do to make the office a healthier place, mentally and otherwise:
Carry out risk assessments. Some risk assessments are a legal requirement (like those for Display Screen Equipment, or DSE), but you could go further. One suggestion, from Thrive Law, is to carry out a wellbeing assessment to really understand how your workplace impacts the mental health of your employees.
Make sure all reasonable adjustments are in place. As we discussed previously, seemingly small changes have a huge impact on your workforce. As a workplace manager, it’s your responsibility to make sure they are in place.
Keep an eye on absences. Sure, everyone gets ill from time to time. But if you notice that a particular staff member is taking time off repeatedly it could indicate that they are struggling with their mental health.
Keep lines of communication open. Encourage and create opportunities for honest and open discussions about mental wellbeing amongst colleagues, with line managers and supervisors. This is especially important for those working from home.
Make a comfortable working environment a top priority. Providing ample facilities, space, natural light, and greenery all contribute to your employees’ wellbeing. Research such as this study shows that access to green spaces is a vital part of maintaining our mental health.
Assess the health of your building. Extreme temperatures and humidity, noise, and overcrowding all contribute to stress. Elevated stress levels can lead to more serious mental health problems down the line.
What does the research say about mental health and the physical workplace?
At Infogrid, we want to help you get the very best out of your business, and that happens when employees can perform at their best level.
In 2015, Public Health England released a report on the impact of the physical environment on wellbeing. We also researched this topic ourselves whilst putting together our 2021 Healthy Buildings Report.
Here’s what the research says about the physical workplace and mental health:
Office layout and furniture should promote comfort and productive work. Open plan offices are great for collaboration but they can cause issues for those needing confidentiality or to do more focused work. Chairs, in particular, should be ergonomic in design and fully adjustable, to help prevent musculoskeletal injuries—a common source of workplace-related absences.
Natural light is necessary for good mental health. Workers demand more than a fluorescent strip light and a pokey work cubicle. Instead, employers need to capitalise on sources of natural light which have been shown to be crucial for mental health. Inadequate lighting can cause tiredness and discomfort, so employees should have control over lighting levels—or it should reflect changing natural light levels.
Air quality has a major impact on wellbeing. Many studies now link air quality and brain health, including research we covered here. Suffice to say, the data is pretty clear: poor air quality is associated with lower productivity and cognitive decline. So make good indoor air quality a priority for your office.
Temperature and humidity play a role. Extremes of temperature and humidity should be avoided. Cold, drafty, and damp buildings have been associated with poor mental health, including anxiety.
Employees want hygienic and clean workplaces. For now at least, the COVID-19 pandemic may seem like it’s in the rearview mirror. But concerns about the health of the workplace are still a source of stress for many. Our research showed that of those employees who were happy to return to work, 60% had said it was because their employer had made their workplace safe, with measures such as regular cleaning and social distancing.
Factors such as these all contribute to building health—something you can’t afford to overlook. Our research found that 49% of participants felt that the healthiness of their workplace impacted their productivity. What's more, 39% even stated that the healthiness of their workplace would influence their decision to join a new company.
Infogrid can help you look after your employee mental health
Creating a healthy working environment is no mean feat. But we can help.
Our Healthy Building System uses a network of best in class IoT sensors to seamlessly monitor everything from temperature, humidity, and air quality to occupancy and cleanliness. Monitoring 24/7, our sensors feed all their data to our central system, which uses AI to generate actionable insights, all on our intuitive dashboard.
The Infogrid system can show you data on:
Temperature and humidity. Keep conditions optimal for your employees, whatever the weather.
HVAC and air quality. Optimise ventilation and maintain air quality with our smart sensors which monitor everything from CO2, VOCs and radon to viral risk factor and air pressure.
Occupancy. Avoid overcrowding and ‘dead zones’. Instead. Use our occupancy tracking to make the most of your space and boost productivity.
Smart cleaning. Don’t rely on rotas. Instead, use our smart system of sensors to target cleaning to where it’s really needed (for example, in high traffic areas) and receive real-time validation.
Occupancy satisfaction. Why not give employees a chance to provide real-time feedback? Use our smart sensors to collect ongoing data from your employees so you can take a proactive approach to workplace health.
Curious about how we can help you support your workforce with their mental health? Try our demo to find out more.
