Stress Awareness Day 6th November 2019: Free Mental Health Policy

The first Wednesday in November each year is National Stress Awareness Day, and as you know here at Altum HR we are incredibly passionate about all aspects of mental health in the workplace. Did you know that in 2018 statistics show that work is the most common cause of stress for UK adults, with 59% experiencing it?

Today stress and mental health are one of the most significant HR issues faced by UK employers, and that is why we want to raise as much awareness as possible by highlighting stress awareness in the workplace and the implications for its employers if left unaddressed.

With almost half (45%) of UK workers saying that their place of work does not have anything in place to help reduce employee’s stress levels and improve wellbeing, it is no surprise that more than one in 10 say that stress causes them to take sick days from work.

Stress can cause employers additional problems such as:

• 25% of individuals struggle to be as productive at work as they usually would be when experiencing stress
• (22%) report feeling disengaged with their work as a result
• Workers not being able to successfully manage their work-related stress which then impacts on their home or personal lives

Stress and mental health in the workplace IS a problem, and that is why over the last 12 months, we have worked hard to raise awareness of this topic not only with our clients but with all businesses. We aim to support them in creating a healthy and communicative environment where open conversations about mental health can take place.

In the last six months, we’ve hosted free ‘Mental Health In The Workplace’ Workshops for local businesses to enable them to be better equipped when dealing with Mental Health matters in a business environment and had incredibly positive feedback.

We’ve also been working closely with the incredible Warrington Wolves Foundation, created to provide life-changing opportunities through sport, education, health and the arts which enrich, inspire and celebrate the Warrington community.

To continue raising awareness about this incredibly important subject, we want to help as many businesses as we can and make information and policies easily accessible wherever possible.

All businesses should have a Mental Health Policy in place; however, we know that a considerable proportion does not.

To combat this for the duration of November, in honour of stress awareness week, we will be offering a Mental Health Policy to businesses for free if they make a donation of £20 to the Warrington Wolves Foundation to support the incredible work that they do.

For a donation of just £20 (usual price £150), you will receive a FREE Mental Health Policy that you can adapt to your business. 100% of Funds will be donated to Warrington Wolves Foundation to support the Offload Mental Health Programme and Mental Health First Aid Training.

James Howes, Sports & Lifestyles Manager from the Warrington Wolves Foundation, says:

‘Despite stress accounting for nearly 40% of work-related absences, many employees are reluctant to talk to their manager or colleagues due to the stigma associated with it. With many us spending more time at Work, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find an appropriate life balance so it is important that employers take steps to tackle the work-related causes of stress and encourage their staff to seek help at the earliest possible opportunity. One of the first steps is to ensure that a Mental Health Policy is embedded within the working practices of all organisations and the Warrington Wolves Foundation know from first-hand experience, the value of supporting and assisting staff who are struggling to make ground in their life. With this in mind, we wholeheartedly welcome the approach Altum HR is taking to ensure all organisations continue to protect the wellbeing of their staff.’

To make your donation please click here.  Once you have made your donation you will be directed to a page where you can claim your free Mental Health Policy. A member of the Altum HR team will verify your donation and then be in touch with your template.