Expert view: what progress has been made since the launch of the Thriving at work report?

Stevenson and Farmer’s Thriving at work report revealed that 300,000 people who experience long-term health problems lose their job every year. Additional research by Deloitte for the review found that poor mental health at work costs the UK economy between £74 billion and £99 billion a year, which includes a cost to employers of between £33 billion and £42 billion.

In light of these findings, the review set out a total of 40 recommendations for employers, the government and other stakeholders (including six core mental health standards). All the recommendations were accepted by the government in the paper, Improving Lives: The Future of Work, Health and Disability.

Working to meet these recommendations is a challenge that cannot be underestimated. However, on the whole, things are moving in the right direction.

The civil service has developed a Mental Health Support Sense Check to help its departments assess how well they are meeting the core and enhanced mental health standards, and to build up a more complete picture of which areas are strong and which need improving. In addition, it has set a target for 90 per cent of senior civil service leaders to be trained as Wellbeing Confident Leaders by the end of 2019.

Meanwhile, NHS England, with support from Mind, developed its Health and Wellbeing Framework in which the core and enhanced standards are embedded.

There has also been the launch of a voluntary reporting framework to support employers to report on disability, mental health and wellbeing in the workplace. And we have seen engagement from bodies such as the Chartered Insurance Institute, which commissioned a guide for the sector on how to meet the Thriving at work standards.

In January this year, the inaugural meeting of the Thriving at Work Leadership Council was held at 10 Downing Street bringing together senior leaders from a range of organisations from across the private, public and voluntary sector committed to embedding the key principles underlying good mental health at work. These organisations have said they will stay on the Council for a minimum of three years, recognising it takes time to change work cultures.

There are still areas we need to see urgently prioritised. In its manifesto, the government committed to improving the legal definition of disability to ensure that more people with mental health problems are covered by the protection provided by the Equality Act 2010 – but we’re still awaiting an announcement. The government also committed to making statutory sick pay more flexible so that people are able to make phased returns to work. We appreciate that this is something that needs careful thought but the consultation, due soon, has been a long time coming.

Employers have made great strides in the past year or so, which indicates their commitment to creating mentally healthy workplace cultures. Increasingly, employers are recognising the value – both economic and social – of taking staff wellbeing seriously. While more employers are on board when it comes to promoting mental health at work there is still a huge disability employment gap. We want to reach a point where all workplaces recognise the value of recruiting and nurturing a diverse workforce of talented employees, including those whose mental health may have prevented them from working in the past.

With the right support, work can be a place within which all of us can thrive.

The author is Faye McGuinness, head of workplace wellbeing programmes (strategy and development), Mind.