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Feeling stressed: How to establish an effective framework for mental health in the workplace
5/2/2025
8 min read
Feature
Mental health is a sensitive issue, particularly when it comes to the working environment. Deloitte estimates that the cost of absence and ‘presenteeism’ (that is, working while feeling ill, depressed or stressed and therefore underperforming) by employees cost UK business £24bn in 2020–2021. While employee turnover has increased by 25% since 2019, mostly driven by poor mental health – which employers claim is the primary cause of long-term absence from work, according to a thought-provoking new publication by the Energy Institute (EI). New Energy World Features Editor Brian Davis reports.
Dr Mandy Rutter, under the direction of the EI’s Health Technical Committee (HTC), has developed profoundly important guidance, The Mental Health Framework (published 1 December 2024) which stands well alongside other important EI health and safety related guidance. Project coordination and technical editing was carried out by Jamie Walker and Laszlo Komaromi at the EI.
The report points out that since the COVID-19 pandemic, poor employee mental health has emerged as one of the biggest people challenges facing organisations. There is growing awareness that mental health issues impact many parts of the population and should not be given the outdated label of ‘mental illness’.
Employees, and particularly the younger generation, ‘have higher levels of mental health literacy than ever before’, says the report. According to Business in the Community research (and an accompanying tool kit for employers), work-related poor mental health is not spread evenly throughout organisations, as there is a disconnect between what senior leaders believe, the support they provide, and the reality of employees’ experience.