Mental Health Policy

This Mental Health & Wellbeing policy aims to provide guidance to most businesses. Please feel free to cut and paste it into your own policy protocol, but it’s important to review and amend to suit the needs of your organisation.

Purpose of the policy

Every UK employer has a duty of care to support the health, safety and wellbeing of its employees. There are many factors that influence the health and wellbeing of staff. Understanding and overcoming these issues can result in a range of benefits for both individuals and the wider business. Mental wellbeing is relevant for all employees, which means every member of staff can play a part in improving wellbeing in the workplace. By addressing mental health issues, businesses can improve the general wellbeing of employees, reduce absenteeism and presenteeism, lower staff turnover, increase productivity, and help promote the employment of those who have experienced mental health problems.

Policy Objectives - The policy covers the following areas, with objectives aligned as follows: 

Promoting mental wellbeing by: 

• Providing information and raising awareness of mental health issues. 
• Promoting policies and actions that support mental wellbeing in the workplace. 
• Equipping employees with the skills to support their own mental health. 
• Creating a supportive workplace culture, tackle factors that may have a negative impact on mental health, and ensure managers have the right skills to support staff.
• Delivering non-judgemental support to any staff member experiencing a mental health issue.
• Offering mental health first aid training for teams, or ensure the business has mental health first aiders who can support staff with mental ill health.
• Evaluating how working conditions and the organisation’s policies are influencing mental health.
• Delivering a thorough induction for all new starters, providing an outline of the organisation, the policies and the role they are expected to play.
• Providing ways for staff to support their own mental wellbeing, for example through social events. 
• Dealing with any conflict quickly and make sure the workplace is free from bullying, harassment, racism or discrimination. 
• Providing all staff with clear job descriptions, objectives and responsibilities, as well as the training to do their job well 
• Ensuring that there is good communication between managers, staff and teams.
• Providing support and guidance for any member of staff experiencing mental health issues.
• Treating staff members with mental health issues fairly and without judgement.
• Encouraging staff to talk to a mental health first aider, HR, occupational health, a counsellor or GP.
• Offering phased returns to work if a team member has been on long term sickness absence, with support at each stage 
• Treating all matters relating to staff mental ill health in the strictest confidence, and only share information with prior consent from the individual concerned.
• Supporting the employment of people who have experienced mental ill health.
• Demonstrating a positive attitude to employees and job applicants with mental health issues, including having positive statements in recruitment literature.
• Keeping all staff involved in the recruitment process informed and aware of mental health issues and the Disability Discrimination Act, and not assuming that those with a mental health issue will be more susceptible to workplace stress, or will necessarily take more time off than other applicants.
• Providing all line managers have received mental health first aid training, or have the skills to manage mental health in the workplace.
• Recognising that workplace stress is a health and safety issue.
• Identifying workplace stress factors/scenarios and carry out risk assessments of the business.
• Offering support through a confidential counselling service, or qualified mental health first aiders.
• Promoting sources of support for issues linked to mental health such as financial wellbeing, gambling awareness, alcohol services and the like. 

Workplace Management - Equipping managers and leaders with the skills to:

• Identify and assist those with mental ill health.
• Raise awareness of mental and physical wellbeing across the business.
• Identify workplace stressors to eliminate stress or control the risks from stress. 
• Encourage training for all managers and supervisory staff in good management practices. 
• Provide adequate resources to enable managers to support staff and carry out their roles.
• Provide training in good management practices.
• Provide resources to help managers implement the company’s workplace mental health and wellbeing policy.

Offering support to employees by: 

• Setting realistic targets and deadlines for staff.
• Creating a culture that supports the wellbeing of all employees.
• Offering help, support and guidance to those with a mental health issue.
• Assisting those returning to work after a period of mental ill health.
• Implementing mental health awareness training.
• Providing confidential counselling for staff affected by stress caused by work e.g. witnessing an injury, on site harassment etc. 
• Training up Mental health ambassadors or employee wellbeing champions in the workplace.
• Raising up Workplace Health Champions by providing adequate training. 

Supporting those coming back to work by: 

• Making any necessary adjustments to the role/environment including phased returns.
• Establishing agreed recruitment practices.
• Retaining and supporting staff who develop mental ill health.
• Raising awareness of long term health conditions, both physical and mental amongst staff and managers.

Responsibilities of managers - Managers ensure that all employees are:

• made aware of this policy.
• actively support and contribute to the implementation of this policy, including its goals and objectives; manage the implementation and review of this policy. 

Managers should:

• attend management training including that related to health and wellbeing
• ensure work load and job design supports the health and wellbeing of staff as much as is reasonably practicable 
• feedback and issues affecting health and wellbeing to the designated senior manager, or health and safety representative. 

Responsibilities of staff - Employees are encouraged to:

• understand this policy and seek clarification from management where required.
• consider this policy while completing work-related duties.
• support fellow their fellow colleagues in their awareness of this policy.
• support and contribute to your company's aim of providing a safe, healthy and supportive environment for all workers.
• engage in initiatives and support offered through your company's wellbeing plans.
• feedback any issues relating to health, safety and wellbeing to their line manager or the designated health and safety representative. 

Responsibilities of Human Resources / the Organisation

Your company will ensure that:

• all employees receive a copy of this policy during the induction process or in their employee handbook.
• all staff are made aware of the health and wellbeing support offered by your company during the induction process
• this policy is easily accessible by all members of the organisation.
• employees are informed when a particular activity aligns with this policy
• employees are empowered to actively contribute and provide feedback to this policy; and
• employees are notified of all changes to this policy.
• The organisation will support health and wellbeing by managing workloads and job design to eliminate stresses and causes of ill health in line with Health and Safety Executive guidance, following the management standards for Stress, carrying out regular workplace risk assessments and implementing changes to reduce and eliminate risks accordingly.

The HSE management standards are as follows:

1. Demands– this includes issues such as workload, work patterns and the work environment.
2. Control – how much say the person has in the way they do their work.
3. Support – this includes the encouragement, sponsorship and resources provided by the organisation, line management and colleagues.
4. Relationships – this includes promoting positive working to avoid conflict and dealing with unacceptable behaviour.
5. Role – whether people understand their role within the organisation and whether the organisation ensures that they do not have conflicting roles.
6. Change – how organisational change (large or small) is managed and communicated in the organisation.

Human Resources will be responsible for initiating reviews of this policy as appropriate.

Monitoring and review

Your company will review this policy {six/twelve} months after implementation and annually thereafter.

Effectiveness of the policy will be assessed through:

• feedback from employees, the Health and Wellbeing Committee (if applicable), and management; and by review of the policy by management and committee to determine if objectives have been met and to identify barriers and enablers to ongoing policy implementation.
• A mental health and wellbeing at work risk assessment. 
• Staff sickness, presenteeism and staff turnover levels.
• Exit interviews.
• Use of occupational health or counselling services.
• Staff complaints or referrals.
• Feedback from the company’s mental health lead, or qualified mental health first aider.
  

Implementing your own Mental Health Policy