Mental Wellbeing & Employers' Legal Duty of Care

Mental Wellbeing & Employers' Legal Duty of Care

1 in 4 of us are on the middling to lower end of the mental wellbeing spectrum and only ½ the population are suitably compassionate about mental health.  Whilst New Zealand’s mental wellbeing statistics are generally not terrible there is room for improvement. 

There are 7 pillars to wellbeing and mental health is one of them.  Over 2 million kiwis are in full time employment which means they spend the biggest portion of their awake time at work, so it’s critical that employers and employees work together for the benefit of both parties, it’s a 2-way street. It is a reality that employees bring personal stresses to work and businesses send employees home with workplace stresses and the adage of “leave it at the door” is no longer appropriate.  It implies we should pretend everything is simply fine.  It is an archaic, unhealthy, and unsustainable management strategy that I liken to putting a band aid on a bullet wound; it does no good at all.   

Let’s look at the key stresses that travel into and out of our workplaces and some management strategies for both parties. 

Key stresses we can bring into the workplace include mental fatigue and unwellness, physical challenges, financial worries, commuter disruptions, incidence of abuse, loneliness, time management issues and now COVID-19.   

The repercussions of these can be distracted employees, rising levels of errors, teammate and customer relationships can be tested and general productivity compromised e.g., increased absenteeism and tardiness, a rise in personal phone calls and digital messaging, increased anxiety, and general burnout.   

Key stresses that can be taken home from the workplace include unmanageable workloads, unreasonable work hours, being held accountable but having no control, bullying and isolation, performance demands but no management support, poor pay compared to output and COVID-19.   

The repercussions of these can be frayed personal relationships, physical unwellness, breakdowns, disengagement from activities, unhealthy rumination, and suicide.   

Here are some steps that both parties can take to mitigate the negative outcomes of these stresses:
1. Implement a Mental Wellbeing Policy.  NZ businesses are legally obligated to manage employee mental wellbeing risks including discrimination.
2. Employers need to practice their mental wellbeing policy and maintain an open-door policy with a willingness to be challenged.  Employees need to feel safe about talking to management about workplace and private concerns. 
3. Employees have an obligation to comply with the company’s mental wellbeing policy. 
4.  It is the responsibility of the employee to make employers aware of any personal stresses they may bring into the workplace and any workplace issues causing mental unwellness for them or someone else.  The parties can then work on a strategy together and the employer can provide relevant and reasonable support. 
5. Management must be trained and equipped to follow through on the company’s mental wellbeing policy. 

Mental Wellbeing can be a sensitive and sometimes emotionally charged topic so if you want advice or help please reach out to us