The number of mental health enquiries made to employee assistance programmes (EAPs) by UK employees has increased by 31% since last year, according to data from Personal Group and Health Assured.
The figures, released on 18 September 2018, compare the first six months of 2017 with the same period of 2018. They also show that mental health enquiries have outpaced all other advice calls, including those relating to work stress, relationships and general health issues, rising from 23% of all calls in 2017 to 36% in 2018.
The statistics are based on over 100,000 employee interactions with Health Assured’s EAP in the first and second quarters of 2017, and over 150,000 interactions in quarter one and quarter two of 2018.
Personal Group, meanwhile, says it has seen a 300% increase year on year in access to employee wellbeing resources, which include EAPs, via its app and platform, Hapi.
Mark Scanlon, chief executive officer of Personal Group, said: “More and more employers are waking up to the fact that more must be done to improve their employees’ wellbeing. Mental health in the workplace is no longer a taboo subject and only by providing resources and open conversation can we truly start to provide the support our employees need.”
He added: “To effectively improve wellbeing, a strategy must be put in place which considers physical, emotional as well as financial wellbeing. If an employee is suffering in one area of their life it will often manifest itself in other areas.
“A truly all-inclusive health and wellness programme that acknowledges and supports employees at each point of this triangle of wellbeing is the only way to promote meaningful employee wellbeing.”