Understanding and addressing Blue Monday in the workplace
Coined in 2004 by a psychologist working for a holiday company, ‘Blue Monday’ rolls around every year on the third Monday in January and is often dubbed ‘the most depressing day of the year.’ Initially created as part of a marketing campaign, the concept aimed to encourage booking holidays by capitalising on post-holiday blues, financial […]
10 things to do if an employee is struggling with mental health
During Mental Health Awareness Week, we’re offering our top tips, including what to do if an employee is struggling with mental health. We have heard a great deal about mental ill health in the last few months, whether this has been hearing how people have struggled during the pandemic or struggled as members of the Royal […]
Mental Health Guidance Updated
Acas has published new guidance this month regarding reasonable adjustments to support mental health in the workplace. Under the Equality Act 2010, mental ill health can be considered a disability, which means that in those cases where it does, an employer is legally obliged to make reasonable adjustments. Reasonable adjustments could be to the job […]
Could a four-day working week be successful?
In June 2022, the world’s largest trial of a 4-day working week began with over 60 organisations worldwide taking part, involving around 3,000 UK employees. Its purpose was to determine whether working four days a week instead of the traditional five improved employee wellbeing and productivity. Firms taking part included office-based software developers, housing, food […]
Mental health set to be a major challenge for 85% of SMEs
We ran our annual SME Business Survey back in November and when asked what the most important aspects of Health and Safety over the next 12 months, mental health came out top. Of those surveyed, 85% of SME business leaders stated that mental health will be their biggest health and safety challenge in 2023, an […]
Blue Monday 2023
What is Blue Monday? Blue Monday is the third Monday in January and came about almost 20 years ago by a psychologist who identified a formula for defining “January Blues” after having been asked to identify the best day for booking a summer holiday. Blue Monday came about after he identified several factors which he […]
New mental health and wellbeing plan
In April, the government opened a consultation seeking views on what could be done to improve everyone’s mental health and wellbeing. Acas set out its response to the call for evidence, which dealt with the question “do you have ideas for how employers can support and protect the mental health of their employees”. Some of […]
Tips for supporting Mental Health at Work
The Mental Health Foundation says, “We all have so much going on in our lives, including competing strains and stresses . This can see kindness pushed to one side, in favour of what is urgent or trending now. .. but if we take the time to be kind to other people, we can reap the emotional dividends. It can really make a difference and especially for people who are vulnerable or struggling. ” Awareness of the scale […]