“Mental health and employers: Refreshing the case for investment” report by Deloitte
In 2017 Deloitte published research that contributed to the independent Stevenson-Farmer Review, commissioned by the Government. This supported the national debate on the impact of poor mental health, quantifying its cost to UK employers and exploring the benefits to employers of providing help at work.
Two years later, Deloitte has updated this analysis to look again at the costs of poor mental health to UK employers. Despite positive changes in workplaces, which include greater openness in discussing mental health at work (in larger employers in particular), and more provision of support overall, the costs of poor mental health to UK employers have increased by 16%, now costing up to £45 billion.
This can be attributed largely to a significant rise in mental health-related “presenteeism”, where employees work when they are not at their most productive, with mental health-related absenteeism and staff turnover contributing to the costs overall. Alongside this, changes to working practices are found to make maintaining mental health more challenging for some. For example, while an increased use of technology can enhance working practices, having the ability to work outside of normal working hours can also make it hard to disconnect from an “always-oN” culture.
The updated work also makes a positive case for investment in mental health by employers, finding an average return of £5 for every £1 spent, up from the £4 to £1 return identified in 2017.
Read the report to find out more about:
- The cost of poor mental health at work
- The biggest impacts on mental health in the workplace
- Why employers should invest in mental health interventions
- How employers can take action
