The business case for mental health awareness is evidenced by the increasing numbers of employers who are commissioning mental health awareness trainings for their workforce. Employers want trainings which enable their staff to understand more about common mental health conditions. Understanding mental health means that staff can work better with clients and customers. It also allows staff to feel less isolated about personal issues around health and well-being.
Mental health awareness provides the opportunity for employers and employees to find out more about the law as it relates to employment and mental health.
Enlightened employers will seek to develop a workforce team which is happy rather than unhappy, fulfilled rather than excluded. Courses such as MHFA (Mental Health First Aid) show that attendees often feel that one of the benefits of the training in that it allows for a safe space. A safe space where individuals can share feelings about their personal well-being in addition to learning about the broader aspects of mental health conditions and the appropriate interventions.
In addition to mental health, it makes solid sense for businesses to incorporate awareness of social inclusion and mainstream. Returning to or accessing mainstream living is now a key part of the care pathway for those diagnosed with 'severe and enduring' mental health diagnoses. It is equally important for people who may be experiencing conditions such as anxiety, phobia or stress at work.
Both groups - those in primary and secondary care - are being signposted to mainstream life rather than to special settings as a central plank of the recovery process. The implications for any service provider - and that includes businesses - are crucial. Businesses and services are at the receiving end of mainstream.
Clients in recovery are choosing to access their personal goals through a diverse range of outlets. These could range from faith venues to volunteer bureaus, from retail outlets to sports centres, from recording studios to adult education colleges, from libraries to personal counselors, from training venues to department stores.
For businesses, it's not just one in four of their staff who may be experiencing mental health challenges, it's also one in four of their clients, customers and service consumers. Mental health challenges will also have an impact on one in three families. Disclosed or undisclosed, it's clear that mental health and well-being lie at the heart of our transactions and interactions.
Showing posts with label employers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label employers. Show all posts
Friday, 7 January 2011
Wednesday, 10 November 2010
Equality Act 2010
During the parliamentary stages of the Equality Bill, mental health organisation Mind lobbied with other mental health and disability charities to get a ban on pre-employment questionnaires included in the Act. After securing cross-party support for the principle of a ban on questions that ask about a candidate's medical history and putting considerable pressure on Ministers, the last Government introduced a new clause to the Equality Bill making these questions unlawful.
The Equality Act came into force on October 1st 2010. The act bans companies from finding out whether potential employees are healthy enough to work for them prior to an offer of employment. Candidates will no longer be expected to declare medical issues during the recruitment stage unless it is specifically related to their job role.
Equality campaigners have long argued that employers discriminate against prospective employees with mental health issues, disabilities or a long history of illness, putting people off applying for a job.
However, 65pc of employers still ask a candidate about their health prior to a job offer, and 48pc ask potential employees to fill out a questionnaire detailing medical conditions and sickness records, according to a poll of 100 companies by law firm Pannone.
Jim Lister, head of employment law at Pannone, said: "The penalties for employers include investigation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the reversal of the burden of proof, meaning that the employer will be assumed to have discriminated, unless it can show there was another reason for non-selection.
Organisations that learn of a person's health issue after the job offer but fail to make reasonable adjustments and are forced to withdraw the offer face litigation, lawyers have said.
The reversal of the burden of proof is highly significant. Effectively this means that an employee who feels discriminated against on the grounds of mental ill-health, for example, is not required to prove that this is the case. It becomes the employer's responsibility to prove that this is not the case. If proved otherwise, the employer will be required by law to comply with equalities legislation and where necessary, to make reasonable adjustments on behalf of the employee.
The Equality Act came into force on October 1st 2010. The act bans companies from finding out whether potential employees are healthy enough to work for them prior to an offer of employment. Candidates will no longer be expected to declare medical issues during the recruitment stage unless it is specifically related to their job role.
Equality campaigners have long argued that employers discriminate against prospective employees with mental health issues, disabilities or a long history of illness, putting people off applying for a job.
However, 65pc of employers still ask a candidate about their health prior to a job offer, and 48pc ask potential employees to fill out a questionnaire detailing medical conditions and sickness records, according to a poll of 100 companies by law firm Pannone.
Jim Lister, head of employment law at Pannone, said: "The penalties for employers include investigation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the reversal of the burden of proof, meaning that the employer will be assumed to have discriminated, unless it can show there was another reason for non-selection.
Organisations that learn of a person's health issue after the job offer but fail to make reasonable adjustments and are forced to withdraw the offer face litigation, lawyers have said.
The reversal of the burden of proof is highly significant. Effectively this means that an employee who feels discriminated against on the grounds of mental ill-health, for example, is not required to prove that this is the case. It becomes the employer's responsibility to prove that this is not the case. If proved otherwise, the employer will be required by law to comply with equalities legislation and where necessary, to make reasonable adjustments on behalf of the employee.
Tuesday, 29 June 2010
Employers getting down with mental health
Helping employers to understand issues around mental health is fast becoming a key component of approaches to productivity, staff happiness, improved services and profits.
It is employers, managers and directors who are taking the lead on many of the new initiatives around mental health.
Supported by business ‘dragon’ Duncan Bannatyne, Mind’s ‘Taking care of Business’ campaign highlights the initiatives being taken by employers around issues of mental health at work.
The Mind campaign underlines the message that the promotion of good mental health helps employers ‘increase productivity, improve staff performance and save thousands of pounds’.
Mind also hosts a series of follow-up programmes designed to actively encourage good mental health in the workplace.
Some of the companies who have signed up to support the Mind campaign include EDF energy, BT, Hewitt Consultancy, AXA and police and security services. James Kenrick at Hewitt Associates helped set up an Employee Assistance programme allowing staff access to counselling services where appropriate.
Hewitt also initiated a staff health audit which identified stress, anxiety and depression as ‘real issues within the organisation’. James Kenrick states that:
‘after the health audit we sourced a stress vocational rehabilitation service, which has a vocational focus and is staffed by psychologists. Employees who have been absent for 10 days or more are referred for an initial assessment, and recommended the most appropriate treatment plan. We have found that this service, along with early intervention, has greatly reduced the days lost through stress-related absence and stopped stress-related disability altogether’.
Proactive management of mental health in the workplace has allowed Hewitt Associates to save ‘nearly £400’ per employee. More importantly, as Kenrick states:
‘it's the intangible elements that are most rewarding. The feedback from staff who have been helped to recover from difficult circumstances has been exceptional’.
EDF Energy is a major electricity provider. A workplace audit showed that the company was losing around £1.4m in productivity each year as a result of mental ill health among its employees. As part of an Employee Support Programme the company offered psychological support (cognitive behavioural therapy) to employees and trained over 1,000 managers to recognise psychological ill health among staff and to minimise its effects. This resulted in an improvement in productivity which saved the organisation approximately £228,000 per year. Job satisfaction also rose from 36 to 68%
(Business in the Community, 2009).
It is employers, managers and directors who are taking the lead on many of the new initiatives around mental health.
Supported by business ‘dragon’ Duncan Bannatyne, Mind’s ‘Taking care of Business’ campaign highlights the initiatives being taken by employers around issues of mental health at work.
The Mind campaign underlines the message that the promotion of good mental health helps employers ‘increase productivity, improve staff performance and save thousands of pounds’.
Mind also hosts a series of follow-up programmes designed to actively encourage good mental health in the workplace.
Some of the companies who have signed up to support the Mind campaign include EDF energy, BT, Hewitt Consultancy, AXA and police and security services. James Kenrick at Hewitt Associates helped set up an Employee Assistance programme allowing staff access to counselling services where appropriate.
Hewitt also initiated a staff health audit which identified stress, anxiety and depression as ‘real issues within the organisation’. James Kenrick states that:
‘after the health audit we sourced a stress vocational rehabilitation service, which has a vocational focus and is staffed by psychologists. Employees who have been absent for 10 days or more are referred for an initial assessment, and recommended the most appropriate treatment plan. We have found that this service, along with early intervention, has greatly reduced the days lost through stress-related absence and stopped stress-related disability altogether’.
Proactive management of mental health in the workplace has allowed Hewitt Associates to save ‘nearly £400’ per employee. More importantly, as Kenrick states:
‘it's the intangible elements that are most rewarding. The feedback from staff who have been helped to recover from difficult circumstances has been exceptional’.
EDF Energy is a major electricity provider. A workplace audit showed that the company was losing around £1.4m in productivity each year as a result of mental ill health among its employees. As part of an Employee Support Programme the company offered psychological support (cognitive behavioural therapy) to employees and trained over 1,000 managers to recognise psychological ill health among staff and to minimise its effects. This resulted in an improvement in productivity which saved the organisation approximately £228,000 per year. Job satisfaction also rose from 36 to 68%
(Business in the Community, 2009).
Thursday, 24 June 2010
Happiness and Profits
Helping employers to understand issues around mental health is fast becoming a key component of approaches to productivity, staff happiness, improved services and profits.
It is employers, managers and directors who are taking the lead on many of the new initiatives around mental health.
Supported by business ‘dragon’ Duncan Bannatyne, Mind’s ‘Taking care of Business’ campaign highlights the initiatives being taken by many employers around issues of mental health at work.
The Mind campaign underlines the message that the promotion of good mental health helps employers ‘increase productivity, improve staff performance and save thousands of pounds’.
Mind also hosts a series of follow-up programmes designed to actively encourage good mental health in the workplace.
Some of the companies who have signed up to support the Mind campaign include EDF energy, BT, Hewitt Consultancy, AXA and police and security services. James Kenrick at Hewitt Associates helped set up an Employee Assistance programme allowing staff access to counselling services where appropriate.
Hewitt also initiated a staff health audit which identified stress, anxiety and depression as ‘real issues within the organisation’. James Kenrick states that:
‘after the health audit we sourced a stress vocational rehabilitation service, which has a vocational focus and is staffed by psychologists. Employees who have been absent for 10 days or more are referred for an initial assessment, and recommended the most appropriate treatment plan. We have found that this service, along with early intervention, has greatly reduced the days lost through stress-related absence and stopped stress-related disability altogether’.
Proactive management of mental health in the workplace has allowed Hewitt Associates to save ‘nearly £400’ per employee. More importantly, as Kenrick states:
‘it's the intangible elements that are most rewarding. The feedback from staff who have been helped to recover from difficult circumstances has been exceptional’.
EDF Energy is a major electricity provider. A workplace audit showed that the company was losing around £1.4m in productivity each year as a result of mental ill health among its employees. As part of an Employee Support Programme the company offered psychological support (cognitive behavioural therapy) to employees and trained over 1,000 managers to recognise psychological ill health among staff and to minimise its effects. This resulted in an improvement in productivity which saved the organisation approximately £228,000 per year. Job satisfaction also rose from 36 to 68%
(Business in the Community, 2009).
It is employers, managers and directors who are taking the lead on many of the new initiatives around mental health.
Supported by business ‘dragon’ Duncan Bannatyne, Mind’s ‘Taking care of Business’ campaign highlights the initiatives being taken by many employers around issues of mental health at work.
The Mind campaign underlines the message that the promotion of good mental health helps employers ‘increase productivity, improve staff performance and save thousands of pounds’.
Mind also hosts a series of follow-up programmes designed to actively encourage good mental health in the workplace.
Some of the companies who have signed up to support the Mind campaign include EDF energy, BT, Hewitt Consultancy, AXA and police and security services. James Kenrick at Hewitt Associates helped set up an Employee Assistance programme allowing staff access to counselling services where appropriate.
Hewitt also initiated a staff health audit which identified stress, anxiety and depression as ‘real issues within the organisation’. James Kenrick states that:
‘after the health audit we sourced a stress vocational rehabilitation service, which has a vocational focus and is staffed by psychologists. Employees who have been absent for 10 days or more are referred for an initial assessment, and recommended the most appropriate treatment plan. We have found that this service, along with early intervention, has greatly reduced the days lost through stress-related absence and stopped stress-related disability altogether’.
Proactive management of mental health in the workplace has allowed Hewitt Associates to save ‘nearly £400’ per employee. More importantly, as Kenrick states:
‘it's the intangible elements that are most rewarding. The feedback from staff who have been helped to recover from difficult circumstances has been exceptional’.
EDF Energy is a major electricity provider. A workplace audit showed that the company was losing around £1.4m in productivity each year as a result of mental ill health among its employees. As part of an Employee Support Programme the company offered psychological support (cognitive behavioural therapy) to employees and trained over 1,000 managers to recognise psychological ill health among staff and to minimise its effects. This resulted in an improvement in productivity which saved the organisation approximately £228,000 per year. Job satisfaction also rose from 36 to 68%
(Business in the Community, 2009).
Monday, 3 May 2010
Social Inclusion - why it makes sense for businesses
The business case for mental health awareness is evidenced by the increasing numbers of employers who are commissioning mental health awareness trainings for their workforce. Employers want trainings which enable their staff to understand more about common mental health conditions. Understanding mental health means that staff can work better with clients and customers. It also allows staff to feel less isolated about personal issues around health and well-being.
Mental health awareness provides the opportunity for employers and employees to find out more about the law as it relates to employment and mental health.
Enlightened employers will seek to develop a workforce team which is happy rather than unhappy, fulfilled rather than excluded. Courses such as MHFA (Mental Health First Aid) show that attendees often feel that one of the benefits of the training in that it allows for a safe space. A safe space where individuals can share feelings about their personal well-being in addition to learning about the broader aspects of mental health conditions and the appropriate interventions.
In addition to mental health, it makes solid sense for businesses to incorporate awareness of social inclusion and mainstream. Returning to or accessing mainstream living is now a key part of the care pathway for those diagnosed with 'severe and enduring' mental health diagnoses. It is equally important for people who may be experiencing conditions such as anxiety, phobia or stress at work.
Both groups - those in primary and secondary care - are being signposted to mainstream life rather than to special settings as a central plank of the recovery process. The implications for any service provider - and that includes businesses - are crucial. Businesses and services are at the receiving end of mainstream.
Clients in recovery are choosing to access their personal goals through a diverse range of outlets. These could range from faith venues to volunteer bureaus, from retail outlets to sports centres, from recording studios to adult education colleges, from libraries to personal counselors, from training venues to department stores.
For businesses, it's not just one in four of their staff who may be experiencing mental health challenges, it's also one in four of their clients, customers and service consumers. Mental health challenges will also have an impact on one in three families. Disclosed or undisclosed, it's clear that mental health and well-being lie at the heart of our transactions and interactions.
Sunday, 2 May 2010
The Business Case for Mental Health Awareness
The Business Case for Mental Health Awareness. The economic and social cost of mental health problems in the United Kingdom is well documented. In 2002/03 the economic and social cost of mental health problems in England was £77 billion. (SCMH, 2003). The economic and social cost of mental health problems is greater than that of crime and larger than the total amount spent on all NHS and social services in the UK (HM Treasury, 2005).
Dame Carol Black's 2008 report 'Working for a Healthier Tomorrow' was a major attempt to address these concerns. Legislative review such as the 2005 amendments to the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) highlighted the need to address the massive economic and social attrition behind issues of mental ill-health. In 2005 the Confederation of British Industry was concerned enough to commission its own research. Stress, anxiety and depression accounted for a third of the 168 million working days lost in the UK for health and related reasons in 2004, translating to a cost of sickness absence of about £4.1 billion (Confederation of British Industry, 2005).
Dame Carol Black's 2008 report 'Working for a Healthier Tomorrow' was a major attempt to address these concerns. Legislative review such as the 2005 amendments to the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) highlighted the need to address the massive economic and social attrition behind issues of mental ill-health. In 2005 the Confederation of British Industry was concerned enough to commission its own research. Stress, anxiety and depression accounted for a third of the 168 million working days lost in the UK for health and related reasons in 2004, translating to a cost of sickness absence of about £4.1 billion (Confederation of British Industry, 2005).
As a result of legislation, employees have more rights and employers more responsibilities relating to the incidence of mental health in the workplace. Employees who choose to disclose a mental health condition to their employers are strongly protected by legislation and have the right to 'reasonable adjustments' that they may request their employers to make. In practice, it is still true that people with mental health diagnoses may well feel little confidence in this legislation. Nonetheless, their rights are enshrined in law. Similarly, employers have a legal responsibility not to discriminate against employees who have disclosed a mental health condition and to make any reasonable adjustments that have been requested.
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