Every organisation in Britain is affected by mental distress and ill health in the workforce. At any one time one worker in six will be experiencing depression, anxiety or problems relating to stress. Mental ill health is normal in every workplace in the land.
The total cost to employers of mental health problems among their staff is estimated at nearly £26 billion each year. That is equivalent to £1,035 for every employee in the UK workforce.
The business costs of mental ill health are:
- £8.4 billion a year in sickness absence. The average employee takes seven days off sick each year of which 40 per cent are for mental health problems. This adds up to 70 million lost working days a year, including one in seven directly caused by a person's work or working conditions.
- £15.1 billion a year in reduced productivity at work. ‘Presenteeism' accounts for 1.5 times as much working time lost as absenteeism and costs more to employers because it is more common among higher-paid staff.
- £2.4 billon a year in replacing staff who leave their jobs because of mental ill health.
Read the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health Policy paper no. 8 (December 2007) here: