Mental is a serious issue in the workplace
Madalyn Parker is a web developer based in Michigan in the United States. A couple of weeks ago she emailed her team to tell them she was taking a few days off to focus on her mental health. Her boss emailed her to thank her for reminding him of the importance of using sick days for mental health. Madalyn tweeted her original email and her boss’ response and was retweeted 16,000 times, sparking a debate online and in the print media about mental health and wellbeing in the workplace.
In later tweets, Madalyn refers to the many responses she received claiming mental health days would not work at other companies. The responses mostly fell into two categories – “My boss isn’t understanding. I would be fired” and “My employees would abuse this. I would fire them”.
For mental health days to work, tweets Madalyn, companies need to trust and value their employees, without which it is hard to have a healthy work environment.
I advise employers and employees in many sectors and in companies of all sizes. This story neatly illustrates some trends I’ve noticed over the past 12 months or so.
A growing understanding of the prevalence of mental health issues. This is in part due to the stark rise in younger people (Generation X, born after 2000, and the youngest of Generation Y or Millennials, born in the late 1990s) reporting mental health issues.
It is also in part due to protection against disability discrimination, now contained in the Equality Act 2010. Employees with a mental or physical impairment that has a substantial adverse long-term effect on the ability to do everyday things are protected against discrimination on the grounds of their disability. That said, there are employers who operate strict sickness absence policies, with a three strikes and you’re out policy during probation, irrespective of the reason for the sickness absence.
A decline in the stigma associated with mental health issues and a greater willingness for employees to disclose mental health problems. Rather than calling in sick with a more anonymous headache or stomachache, employees will now more readily say they are suffering anxiety or stress. However, my experience is that older employees tend to be more stoic about their mental health.
A greater willingness to share both good and bad experiences about their workplace on social media. Again, my observation is that younger people make greater use of social media in this way and will often say more on social media than they will do face to face.
Increased expectation from employees that work should not just be about earning a salary, but contribute to the overall quality of their lives. An important report published last week, Good Work: The Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices, was commissioned by Theresa May to address growing concerns about modern employment, the gig economy and the use of zero-hours contracts.
Quality of work, states the report, is a major factor in helping people stay healthy and happy and we should want the experience of work to match the aspirations for modern citizenship – people want to feel respected, trusted and enabled to take responsibility.
Some of the responses to Madalyn Parker’s tweet show that major changes in attitude and culture will be necessary if the quality of work that the Taylor Review recommends is to be achieved.
Bethan Darwin is a partner at law firm Thompson Darwin.