This report, prepared by Deloitte, a global consulting firm, investigates poor mental health in the workplace in the United Kingdom. It explores the causes of poor mental health among employees, the associated costs to employers, interventions employers should make and their consequent financial benefits. The report is an update on research conducted in 2017 as a contribution to an inquiry on this issue commissioned by the British government. It is divided into four sections.

In the first section, Deloitte analyses the cost to employers of poor mental health in the workplace and finds that these costs have increased sharply since 2017. The main cause of this increase is the rise in prevalence and costs of “presenteeism”. This occurs when individuals choose to attend work despite having poor mental health leading to unproductive work. This is due to perceived job insecurity, increased workload and, through technology, greater connectivity, causing individuals, mostly younger people, to feel that they cannot take time off. More generally, while the prevalence and cost of absence from work due to sickness has fallen, absences due to mental health conditions such as stress, depression, and anxiety have increased. This is largely due to, again, increased pressure and workload, but also, lack of support, negative work relationships, lack of trust in managers and poor handling of organisational change.

In the second section of the report, Deloitte identifies and “deep dives” into those areas where the situation has worsened since 2017. They are, leaveism, financial wellbeing of employees and young people in the workplace. With the increase in flexible working arrangements enabled by technology, leaveism, being the growing tendency of individuals to be unable to “switch off” from work, has led to overworking and burnout. Employees’ concerns about their financial well-being are growing, adversely impacting on their ability to function at work and mental health. Financial concerns and leaveism disproportionately affect young people who, according to studies cited in the report, are more susceptible to poor mental health. Deloitte discusses and suggests what action employers should take in relation to these three areas.

In the third section of the report, Deloitte advocates for increased investment in mental health interventions by employers for their employees. This is based on the finding that the return on investment of mental health interventions by employers is largely positive and has risen over the last two years. As to which interventions provide the highest returns, Deloitte examined the stage at which intervention is offered, the type of intervention and the size of the recipient group. Interventions that generated the highest returns were those focused on preventative large scale initiatives using technology or diagnostics to tailor support for those most in need.

The fourth section of the report provides examples and strategies that employers can utilise to support their employee’s mental health. In doing so, Deloitte states that recognising the issue of mental health and the clear business case for solving its related problems is only a first step.  The onus is on employers to convert this strong evidence base into practice.

1. The costs to employers from poor mental health in the workplace are substantial. Poor mental health among employees costs employers in Great Britain between £42 billion to £45 billion each year. Since 2017, those costs have increased by 16 % or £6 billion. These costs are highest in the finance, insurance and real estate industries.
2. The costs of mental health work problems in the workplace are important because poor mental health is thought to be responsible for almost half of working days lost in Great Britain due to health issues. Mental health problems will soon surpass other work-related illnesses as a percentage of the total number of instances of poor health at work.
3. Based on its research in 2017, Deloitte found that the return on investment (ROI) of workplace mental health interventions is largely positive, with an average ROI of £4 for every £1 spent. Since then, that ROI has increased to a current average of £5 for every £1spent, the highest ROI being almost £11 pounds for every £1 spent.
4. The increased use of technology has contributed to mental health problems in the workplace by creating an ‘always on’ culture that can make it difficult to disconnect from work. This contributes to the trend of ‘leaveism’ where employees feel they must work outside of their normal working hours leading to overwork and burnout.
   
   
5. The cost to employers of poor mental health among employees is made up of costs from staff being absent due to sickness, costs from staff turnover, but, most significantly, the costs of presenteeism, where individuals choose to attend work despite poor mental health and being unproductive in the work they do.
6. Young professionals are the most vulnerable with respect to poor mental health in the workplace. They are twice as likely to suffer from depression and more susceptible to leaveism, burnout and financial worries. Accordingly, they need more support from employers than they currently receive.
   
   
7. To deal with the rising prevalence and costs of poor mental health in the workplace, decisive action must be taken not just by employers but also by government to increase the standards expected of employers. There will need to be an honest appraisal of employers’ attitudes to poor mental health, the help that is available and how best practice can be embedded in organisations of all sizes.
8. The main strategies that employers can utilise to support mental health among the workforce include to use insights to take stock, monitor and analyse performance at the organisation, tackle stigma and improve awareness, as well as provide more support through training and ensuring support is appropriate for and accessible to young people.
9. Greater ROI emerged from screening individuals to provide early support as well as proactive training instead of reactive support such as therapy once the employees’ mental health worsened.
10. The report contains several appendices outlining an employee’s journey with mental health in the workplace, costing methodology, ROI methodology, ROI employer case studies, Mental health at work standards checklist and a ROI report summary.