We all have mental health. For most of us, it dips and rises from day-to-day, influenced by things like our family lives, jobs, social interactions and even our hormones.
The World Health Organisation estimates that one in four of us will experience some form of mental ill-health during our lifetime. According to the Health and Safety Executive, more than half of all sick days are taken due to anxiety, depression and stress.
Feeling down, stressed or anxious is natural. But for nearly all of us there will be at least one period in our lives when these feelings are so overwhelming, they risk making us ill.
Here’s what you need to know about mental health in the workplace.
The impact of recent events on mental health in the workplace
It’s of no surprise that, as well as personal challenges, current events can have a significant impact on mental health. The Covid-19 pandemic, and all that came with it, has led to an increase in symptoms of mental illness across the globe.
At the same time, we’ve moved to a more flexible way of working, with many workers spending more time working from home. This presents a unique challenge for employers and managers. They may find it harder to identify if an employee is struggling when they aren’t seeing them face-to-face. For employees, the lack of interaction could leave them feeling more isolated than ever.
What the law says about mental health in the workplace
It’s the 2010 Equality Act (or the Disability Discrimination Act in Northern Ireland) that sets out your rights at work if you have a mental health problem that affects your ability to do your job.
However, the key thing to know here is that you must be prepared to show that your mental health is a disability to have it covered by the Equality Act. You may or may not want to do this—it really depends on how you view your health, the nature of your job and your personal circumstances.
If you think you’re being discriminated against at work because of a mental health problem, you should find out if it could count as a ‘disability’ so that you can find protection under this Act. The Mind site is brilliantly useful here. It explains what could constitute a disability and gives step-by-step advice on how the Equality Act can protect you at work.
What about applying for jobs?
Generally, employers can’t ask you questions about your mental health before offering you a job. If they do, then you can report this to the Equality Advice and Support Service.
There are some exceptions. For example, to find out if you can do tasks central to the job, for national security reasons or for diversity monitoring. But in most cases, you shouldn’t be asked about your mental health when applying for a job. For most jobs and in most circumstances, it would be unlawful.
There are also a number of organisations, especially mental health charities, where personal experience of a mental health issue is seen as an advantage in candidates. For at least some of their roles, they’re actively looking for people who have lived experience, who can connect with beneficiaries on a real and personal level because of a shared understanding.
Even if they don’t actively ask for personal experience, there are still many charities who make it a priority to support their staff’s mental health and wellbeing in the employee benefits they provide.
But, how do you decide whether to tell your employer?
Firstly, you don’t need to—unless you want protection under the Equality Act (and are prepared to have it assessed as a disability). If you do decide to tell your employer, then think about how to do it, when to do it—and how much you want to say.
Who’s the best person to speak to? It may be that you’re better off going to HR rather than your manager. Also, don’t feel obligated to tell everything—focus on your mental health in the workplace and the impact it has on your ability to do your job. That’s what it’s all about.
What if your mental health is a disability and it has an impact on your job?
If your mental health problem is a disability—and there’s a feature of your work which could (or is) causing you major disadvantage because of this disability—then your employer is under a duty to make adjustments to avoid that disadvantage.
Examples of the kind of adjustments your employer could make, include:
- Changes to your working area
- Changes to your hours
- Spending time working from home
- Time off work for treatment, assessment or rehabilitation
- Temporarily reallocating tasks.
What if you worry about your mental health at work, but it’s not a disability?
So many people will feel like this. It’s incredibly common to have periods in your life when work, or your personal life, gets on top of you. Or to suffer at times from depression and anxiety—and worry that if it happens again, you’ll not be able to cope with a good, or potentially more stressful, job.
Fortunately, in recent years, there’s been a huge increase in discussion and understanding around mental health issues—and how to care for your mental health in the workplace, in particular. The stigma surrounding just talking about mental health is less than it once was—although, of course, there’s more to be done.
Organisations like ACAS have lots of advice for employers and employees, as does Mental Health at Work, along with charities like Mind, Time To Change, Heads Together, The Advocacy Project, among others.
There’s a wealth of free information available online on how to protect your mental health and build resilience. This includes key strategies and habits that can shore up your mental well-being. This way you have the confidence and skill set to cope better when life becomes stressful. It shouldn’t stop you going for that job.
And if you need more inspiration, just look at the numerous high-achieving people who now talk openly about their battles with mental health. From Bruce Springsteen to Alastair Campbell, from Fearne Cotton to Stephen Fry.
We all have mental health and we all have a responsibility to ourselves to look after it—while also not letting it stop us from achieving the job, or the life, we want.
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This post was originally published in 2019 and has been updated to ensure relevance and to reflect the current job seeker experience.
