More than three-quarters (78%) of respondents feel that not enough is being done to support mental health at work, according to research by CV Library.
Its survey of 1,100 UK employees also found that 39% of respondents think employers should promote a healthy work-life balance in order to support staff with their mental wellbeing.
The research also found:
- 84% of respondents believe that employers should offer mental health days for staff, and 88% feel that employers should be given training to help them understand mental health and how they can better support employees.
- 60% of respondents would be too embarrassed to disclose information about the state of their mental health to their employer, while 63% feel guilty for taking time off for mental health reasons.
- 15% of respondents think employers should create an environment where mental health is not stigmatised in order to help support staff. The measures suggested include referring employees to a counselling service (14%), talking more openly about mental health at work (12%) and providing an internal counselling service for employees (11%).
- 43% of respondents think aspects of their job can cause them to feel anxious or depressed.
- 46% of respondents have considered resigning from a job due to a lack of mental health support.
Lee Biggins (pictured), founder and managing director at CV Library, said: “It’s sad to learn that professionals aren’t feeling supported by their employers when it comes to their mental health and it’s clear more needs to be done to tackle this. With almost half confessing that they’ve thought about quitting a job due to lack of support, employers need to know how to address these issues. Otherwise they may risk losing talented employees.
“From the data, it’s obvious that there is a deep-rooted stigma around talking about mental health, particularly at work. Honesty and strong communication both contribute towards a great [organisational] culture and the wellbeing of staff needs to play a part in this. Employers need to create an environment where staff feel they can approach their boss if they’re struggling or take some time out when they need to recharge their batteries.”