World Mental Health Day 2024: prioritising workplace mental health

The theme of this year's World Mental Health Day is 'prioritising mental health in the workplace'. This as the UK government chooses 10 October to unveil its long-awaited Employment Rights Bill, geared to securing greater flexibility and autonomy for employees.

Ruth Holmes

9 October 2024

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Globally mobile employees are more likely than local employees to face stress, burnout and mental health conditions. This year’s World Mental Health Day theme is a reminder there is much employers, managers and colleagues can do – and are doing – to make mental wellbeing a priority.Tsuyoshi Akiyama, president of the World Foundation for Mental Health (WFMH), the body behind the annual awareness day, said this year’s call to prioritise mental health in the workplace is a chance "to re-kindle our efforts to promote global citizenship and mental health awareness by making our workplaces a healthier place, especially as 60% of the global population is in employment and employees spend 60% of their time in the workplace”.“World Mental Health Day 2024 will highlight various aspects of mental health at work, from workplace conditions and stress management to the importance of social inclusion and empowerment,” he said. “The goal is clear: to champion mental health in the workplace and build best practices that create cultures where workers have the potential to contribute productively and thrive.”

Promoting healthy work for everyone

“We need to place more emphasis on the link between mental health wellbeing and employment," added Professor Gabriel Ivbijaro MBE JP, WFMH general secretary. "In general, even though employment is positive, some working patterns can be detrimental for health. Such stressors are associated with burnout and other stress-related mental health problems, absenteeism and presenteeism, and reductions in productivity with a personal and societal cost."Despite knowing that employment when work conditions are favourable is good, many people who have experienced mental health difficulties choose not to disclose these issues to employers because of fear of stigma and discrimination.”Greater awareness of mental wellbeing, particularly since the pandemic, has seen employers do more. Yet as we reported in the autumn issue of 'Think Global People' magazine, wellbeing washing remains rife as the onus continues to be placed on employees.For Julie Stephens, group director of wellbeing, inclusion and people risk at Bupa: “It’s very important that people can work in an environment where risk of stress is minimised, as well as risks to physical health and safety. For example, having a manageable workload, a good amount of control and support in relation to how work is completed, and good workplace relationships free from unacceptable behaviour all help provide a basis for minimising negative impacts including to staff wellbeing, performance, employee turnover, organisational reputation and customer satisfaction.“Further, when people feel known, understood, and included, they feel safe to share what they need from work from a wellbeing perspective, which is incredibly important in allowing organisations to be able to get their support right in a diverse context. “However, if token policies are all that’s available, it can be a slim band-aid placed on a larger wound. As the conversation around mental health shakes its taboo, it’s important to understand that wellbeing awareness is maturing beyond the tools that are currently on offer. People are seeking to address the root causes by asking these types of questions: what makes work good for you, or what is perhaps difficult or damaging for people?"This is where it gets more challenging and requires senior leadership to commit to having a healthy work culture in its broadest sense. As with many things, it’s about keeping things easy to understand, accessible and personalised. It’s part of the same conversation we’re seeing become more prevalent in all areas of health, not just mental health: true healthcare should seek to address the root cause of health issues, aiming to prevent rather than resolve in retrospect.”

Improving employment rights to safeguard wellbeing

World Mental Health Day 2024 coincides in the UK with the government revealing the contents of its highly anticipated Employment Rights Bill. Among the expected changes in what’s been hailed as the most extensive overhaul of rights for a generation are improved benefits for new parents, statutory sick pay from day one of illness and a review of bereavement leave.The changes aim to strengthen employee rights, their flexibility and autonomy in a ‘new deal’, which would improve financial, physical and mental wellbeing. Yet while the bill seeks to support flexibility, any plans for a statutory right to switch off – recently introduced in Australia – are likely to have been rejected during policymakers’ drafting phase with unions and business leaders. Dr Jonathan Lord, senior lecturer in human resources management and employment law, University of Salford, emphasised the importance of research-based evidence to weigh up the proposals in the face of opposition.“The Employment Rights Bill is a positive move towards granting employees more flexibility and safeguarding their time outside of work. However, the Labour government is likely to encounter strong opposition from businesses that wish to maintain control over how they manage and structure work relationships. Trade unions have also counter argued that the balance of power in the workplace has shifted significantly away from workers over the last decade and believe the expected changes in the Bill will help reverse this trend.”

Safeguarding wellbeing in education and future workplaces

In any case, the focus on workplace mental health, coupled with the plans announced in the UK highlight the shift in sentiment and workplace support.In education too, there continues to be a growing shift towards safeguarding mental wellbeing. The House of Lords launch of Inner Wings’ advisory council in September backed by fintech entrepreneurs, leaders in business and education, shows the seriousness with which the issue is being taken as mental health referrals for children and young people continue to rise year on year.Also at the end of September, over 90,000 students and 18,000 colleagues and parents in 100 Cognita schools and offices in four regions took part in the group's annual Global Be Well Day on 27 September. This served to highlight the vital link between wellbeing and education. As part of the event, which this year focused on 'giving', the Cognita family took part in a 'Be Well Impact Hour', collectively donating over 500,000 hours to connect, support, and inspire change within their communities."Wellbeing is an essential pillar of the holistic education offered at Cognita schools worldwide,” said Dr Simon Camby, group chief education officer for Cognita. “I extend my heartfelt congratulations and gratitude to all the staff, students and families who participated in this year's Global Be Well Day, dedicating their time to making a positive impact in their communities. In our rapidly evolving world, it is more important than ever to equip our children and young people with the knowledge and understanding of what they need to do to look after their own wellbeing and the wellbeing of others. "While our schools focus on wellbeing all year round, Global Be Well Day acts as a regular reminder for all school communities about the importance of wellbeing, and it offers the opportunity for our schools to connect as a global community."Highlights of the day included litter picking at the local park at North Bridge House Senior School & Sixth Form Canonbury in London, UK; preparing food and care packages for the local orphanage at St Andrews International School Sathorn in Bangkok, Thailand; spending time with local care home residents at Colegio Nuevo Cambridge de Cali in Colombia; and collecting donations for the local animal shelter at RGS Guildford Dubai in the UAE.Global Be Well Day 2024 was also a chance for Cognita students to give back to other pupils, as well as school staff. For instance, students at Chile's Colegio Manquecura Ñuñoa prepared breakfast for the school's cleaning and maintenance assistants. Elsewhere, pupils at Repton Al Barsha, in Dubai, delighted their younger schoolmates with face painting.Running shoe and sports clothing brand, ASICS, is encouraging office workers to take a 15-minute desk break on World Mental Health Day “to move for your mental health”. It has also pledged to donate £5 for every image of an empty desk shared on social media with #DeskBreak between 10 October and 30 November.

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