Scully urges businesses to promote positive mental health in workplace

Small Business Minister Paul Scully has written an open letter to businesses about the resources available to help promote positive mental health amongst staff in the workplace.

Addressing the impact of the Covid-19 on the businesses, he noted that there is a “clear and well-established relationship between financial insecurity and poor mental health.”

“Supporting mental health in the workplace has never been more important, and I fully recognise and value the role that employers play when they take positive action to provide workplace mental health and wellbeing support to their staff,” he said.

He urged businesses with specific tools and programmes in place to promote this to the staff, and detailed some of the existing resources available for those organisations that do not have their own resources.

These include:

• The Mental Health at Work website, developed by the charity Mind, which hosts over 400 resources to inform and advise employers on managing mental health in the workplace.
• The website includes a toolkit with advice and resources especially for small businesses.
• The free and impartial advice about issues relating to money or debt from the Money Advice Service.

“Through promoting these resources and guidance for businesses and employers, as well as your own resources, we can improve workplace support, support those individuals who need it, and better tackle the impacts of mental ill-health moving forward,” he said.

Grocery industry charity GroceryAid provides emotional support and advice by BACP trained counselors to grocery colleagues past and present, their partners and dependents, regardless of the length of service.

The charity also partnered with Kooth, the digital mental health and wellbeing platform that gives free, confidential online counselling and support to students and young people aged 11-25.

GroceryAid has also partnered with Rightsteps, one of the UK’s most trusted health and wellbeing experts, to offer an online portal of self-help information on a range of topics split into Mind, Body, and Behaviour, and with Relate to provide couples and family counselling.

The services can be accessed through the 24/7 confidential, freephone Helpline on 08088 021 122 or GroceryAid website.