Employee health and wellbeing

At Sphere Legal, we believe that prioritising health and wellbeing is key to employee engagement – it creates a positive working environment, reduces stress, increases job satisfaction and ultimately, supports employees to thrive in their roles.

Conversely, excessive pressure or stress at work, particularly if it’s not appropriately addressed, can have serious negative effects on employees’ mental and physical health, leading to a range of problems, including anxiety, depression, and physical illness.

Whilst employers are legally required to take reasonable steps to ensure the health, safety and well-being (both physical and mental) of their employees, a failure to do so goes way beyond the risk of a visit from HSE and can result in various claims by employees, including personal injury, discrimination and constructive dismissal claims.

With studies showing that happy employees are 13% more productive, people’s wellbeing is not a luxury; it is a business imperative.  Simply put, when employees have high levels of wellbeing a business will thrive.  Businesses now appreciate the great advantages in supporting the health and wellbeing of staff on a number of different levels.  That of an improved ROI and increased productivity are immediately tangible and understood in a broad business sense but HR professionals also appreciate the inherent advantage in having a loyal workforce and the benefits of lowering staff turnover.

1 in 6.8 people experience mental health problems in the workplace (14.7%)

Research has recently been undertaken by Opinium (www.opinium.com) among 500 HR decision-makers at UK businesses which showed that over three-quarters (76%) of employers now measure the impact of supporting the health and wellbeing of their staff.  This represents a significant increase on the 51% who measured this impact in 2023 and shows that employers are recognising the importance of ensuring both their staff and their business are benefitting from offering health and wellbeing support. 

According to www.mentalhealth.org.uk:

• 1 in 6.8 people experience mental health problems in the workplace (14.7%)
• Women in full-time employment are nearly twice as likely to have a common mental health problem as full-time employed men (19.8% vs 10.9%)
• 12.7% of all sickness absence days in the UK can be attributed to mental health conditions
• If you’re working in an organisation with more than 12 people, chances are at least one or two people in your team will be living with a mental illness. Additionally, one in six will experience symptoms of psychological ill-health, like worry, sleep problems, or fatigue.

So how can we help overcome this?

Research undertaken by The Black Dog Institute (www.blackdoginstitute.org.uk) shows that the following six types of interventions and strategies are effective to support better mental wellbeing in the workplace:

1. Smart work design – Design jobs that are safe and encouraging, include reasonable workloads, and allow staff to use their initiative in performing work.
2. Building personal resilience – Provide extra support and training to those working in high-risk or high-stress roles.
3. Building better work cultures – Reduce stigma about mental health throughout the organisation via training and policy and teach staff ways to look out for each other’s mental wellbeing.
4. Increasing awareness of mental health – Speak openly about mental health and include formal training and activities regarding mental health in employees’ development and induction activities.
5. Support staff recovery from mental illness – Train supervisors to support staff recovering from mental illness; provide flexibility around scheduling, leave, and work duties; and protect recovering staff from bullying or discrimination.
6. Early intervention – Open communication channels for those seeking help and consider conducting wellbeing checks or providing peer support programs.

We believe that having a workplace culture that values its employees and implements adequate procedures and policies to promote health and wellbeing leads to a more positive and productive working environment and can also be a significant factor in the overall profitability of a company.