Employees

"What do I tell them about my mental health problem?" is probably the most frequently asked question asked by employees and people applying for jobs.

Knowing what to say or whether to say anything at all is always a difficult area. Fear of the reaction such disclosure may receive is also an important contributory factor but it's also important to avoid generalisations about how employers will react. Some people report incidents of immediate loss of interest but not disclosing can result in problems later on. For others though it opens up the scenario to put the right support in place and people's experience of mental ill health can be a very positive attribute to offer an employer. Managers and colleagues don’t need to know the full details of the mental health situation but will find it valuable to know how they can help.

Support is available. Whether it’s someone to talk to at particular times, support and advocacy in a meeting, help to manage the workload or break tasks down in to more manageable, bite-sized chunks, to travel with you to and from work or give you an alarm call because your medication makes you drowsy. Employers may be able to get financial help to pay for the costs of such support through the government’s Access to Work programme.

Behind the Logo
MINDFUL EMPLOYER^® is working with employers to help put good practices in place to ensure employees and job applicants who declare mental health issues receive the right level of support. A tangible sign of the willingness to address such issues is the Charter for Employers and many employers are using it’s principles to the benefit of staff. Charter signatories are entitled to display the MINDFUL EMPLOYER logo as a demonstration that they are working towards the aspirations of the Charter.

We are aware that the appearance of the MINDFUL EMPLOYER logo on job adverts or other publicity may lead jobseekers or employees to think that it's like other accreditations such as the Disability Symbol (two ticks), Investors in People or Chartermark where a set of clearly-defined standards have been achieved. It is important to remember that the Charter is a voluntary commitment which seeks to support employers in working within the spirit of its positive approach. MINDFUL EMPLOYER is not a policy, nor a target nor a set of standards. The Charter is about working towards the principles of it not the immediate fulfilment of them – signing up is a step along a journey not the end of it and these things do take time. Being a Charter signatory doesn't mean 'getting it all right': but it does indicate a willingness to work towards better practice.

Feeling Stressed: Keeping Well
Is it possible to help prevent people from becoming unwell? Here is a preventative approach towards harmful levels of stress at work. Feeling Stressed: Keeping Well is a practical, common sense personal workbook suitable for all staff to use. Published by MINDFUL EMPLOYER - click on the title to download.

Directgov
Visit the Directgov website for some more general guidance and further links.