Mind matters: navigating mental health in the workplace

Abstract

Purpose

With mental health issues among the workforce becoming increasingly common, it is imperative that employers and their HR teams are alive to mental health issues and are well equipped to deal with them. This paper sets out to explain these points.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper provides insight for employers into how to deal with mental health issues in the workplace by breaking the topic down into the following sections: mental health-related claims, reasonable adjustments and preventative measures.

Findings

Employees dealing with poor mental health are often less motivated and productive and in more serious cases are more inclined to take periods of long-term sick leave to recover. However, aside from the potentially costly long-term absences and decreased productivity, HR professionals should also take mental health issues seriously because to do otherwise puts the business at risk of discrimination claims from employees suffering with severe and long-term mental health issues. This is why it is important for businesses to treat the mental health of its staff with equal importance to their physical health.

Originality/value

This paper is valuable to HR professionals looking to understand better how they can support their staff in mental health-related issues. The article effectively cuts through the complex legislation to provide clear, practical advice from legal experts.

Citation

Williams, A. and Feeney, C. (2024), "Mind matters: navigating mental health in the workplace", Strategic HR Review, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-03-2024-0021