Supporting mental health at work: actions we need from the Government

Research from Deloitte has suggested that there is a £51 billion annual cost to UK employers every year from poor mental health, highlighting the need for positive and effective interventions.

Having a good job can be an essential protective factor for our mental health. The right kind of work supports our mental health by providing us with a livelihood, as well as a sense of confidence and purpose. It also gives us a chance to foster positive relationships and feel included in a community.  

There are several factors that make a job ‘the right kind’. A good working environment will be one where employers can offer job security, fair treatment, decent working conditions, flexibility and control over people’s working environments and routines.

Michael Hough: "Workplaces should become trauma-informed, with stigma treated as a structural problem and not an individual failing."

This is what we need the UK Government to focus on and encourage. Moreover, with employment law determined by the UK Government, any interventions will impact not only the workplace in England, but also in Scotland and Wales.

Yet, not all jobs are good for our mental health. Poor-quality work – jobs which are low paid, unpredictable, or in hostile environments – can drastically worsen people’s mental health.

If we make the workplace a less accessible place for people with mental health problems, we are likely to see a rise, rather than a fall, in people experiencing poor mental health and having to leave employment. We need to avoid falling into the trap that all jobs are good for our mental health.

Employment Rights Act  

The Government has made some positive moves in this area. The Employment Rights Act 2025 has the potential to be truly transformational, by protecting workers at an earlier point, so they are not subject to unfair employment practices.

The reforms to statutory sick pay are also vital for improving mental health and may contribute to reducing the number of people who fall out of work when their mental health deteriorates because adequate time was not taken to recover. We all need to have the protection to take time to recover when we are unwell.

Additionally, the banning of exploitative zero-hours contracts is long overdue, particularly as research has linked this type of work to experiencing mental health difficulties.

Feelings of powerlessness and uncertainty about working hours can contribute to poor mental health and wellbeing. By banning zero-hours contracts, people will be afforded greater protection against exploitation and workplace practices that harm our wellbeing.

We also welcome the ongoing ‘Milburn Review’, commissioned by the UK Government, into those not in employment, education or training, and look forward to seeing the recommendations.

Young people have lived through unique events and social circumstances such as austerity, the Covid-19 pandemic and the rise of social media. For too long, the UK has been ill-equipped to both effectively support young people into the workplace and then help them when they are in the workplace. This must change.

"Not all jobs are good for our mental health." Photograph: iStock

Support for young workers

Whilst these interventions provide a good starting point, they are just that: a starting point. More is needed – employers must be supported to unlock the potential of an ambitious, talented and diverse young workforce. We need a cross-society focus on empowering young people and employers with the opportunities and skills to create a symbiotic relationship.

This could, in part, be achieved through the implementation of a truly cross-government plan for mental health by the UK Government which helps to address the drivers of increased mental health prevalence in England. We are pleased to see that the UK Government has recently announced such a strategy and look forward to engaging with this consultation and seeing how it develops.

A plan would set out a road map for how mental health will be supported via non-health government departments that directly impact population mental health, including the Department for Work and Pensions, Home Office, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and Education.

While any reforms to the workplace will be applicable across Great Britain, health remains a devolved issue, and therefore any cross-government strategy announced by the UK Government will only apply to England. Positively, the governments in Scotland and Wales already have existing mental health strategies.

Where applicable, any UK Government strategy could learn from the current mental health strategies enacted by the Scottish and Welsh governments.

Incentivise employers

In practice, there are many levers that can be pulled. Employers need to be incentivised to focus on prevention and early intervention. By increasing the length of statutory sick pay to 40 weeks, prevention, early conversations and prompt action would be prioritised. Early intervention needs to be a core design principle across systems.

Research has outlined how crucial line managers are to outcomes, but they need the tools to be able to do their jobs effectively. Employers should be equipped with practical guidance and resources to support line managers to understand their role in supporting mental health of staff and responding appropriately.

Evidence-based, low-cost scalable training for line managers has to be a priority for any intervention. Work design is also significant. Flexible and hybrid working, workload adjustments, and job control should be the norm, rather than discretionary perks.

Workplaces must also be trauma-free areas. Workplaces should become trauma-informed, with stigma treated as a structural problem and not an individual failing. This equates to employers designing policies, leadership, and day‑to‑day practices with an understanding that many people have experienced trauma and ensuring the workplace does not unintentionally harm employees and instead supports recovery and wellbeing. 

Building on this, HR approaches should take a person-centred and non-adversarial engagement. Early conversations and communication should be supported and encouraged in the workforce.

Trauma-informed principles should be embedded throughout the workplace with suitable guidance and advice provided by government. Outcomes should focus on retention, connection, and re-entry.

Preventing absence, maintaining contact during absence and supporting successful return and re-entry to work should be viewed as the key metrics of success.

We also know that there are things that employers are already doing well, and where this is the case they need to be supported and celebrated. Some effective interventions include flexibility, trust, and day-to-day accommodations, which should be legitimised and encouraged.

We are also conscious that it is not an easy time to be an employer, and so any reforms introduced by the UK Government should be stress tested for unintended impacts on employer capacity. The UK Government should seek to work with employers and not against them. 

Many workplaces are already doing some excellent work in supporting their employees. We need to build on this and to develop further. The interventions in this article would help support workplaces to take a more preventative approach which would help keep their employees in the workplace and support them when they need to re-enter the workplace. 

The Milburn Review provides the perfect opportunity for the UK Government to enact some of these measures. As this review will consider areas that are devolved, it is imperative that the governments in Scotland and Wales, also match this action. It is now up to them to do this and to provide the tools for employers to support their employees’ mental health.

For more information see:
mentalhealth.org.uk

Michael Hough is Policy and public affairs manager at the Mental Health Foundation