In what is national stress awareness month, ACAS has launched a new guide on making reasonable adjustments for mental health at work.  It gives guidance for employers as to what reasonable adjustments are with examples and how to respond to requests for reasonable adjustments for mental health reasons and how best to manage employees with these conditions.  For employees it offers guidance on how to request reasonable adjustments for mental health and gives examples.

For employers who do not have such policies it is a useful starting point as it also assists with reviewing overall policies with mental health in mind.   Stress, depression and anxiety are all commonly diagnosed conditions but an individual’s experience of these conditions can be very different.  It is not a one size fits all policy as each employee may need different reasonable adjustments even for those suffering from the same diagnosis but it is a good starting point.  There is no substitute for talking both about mental health conditions and for what an employee actually needs.  Despite recent high profile press coverage there is still felt by some a stigma about suffering from mental health or asking for help.  However, in recent years many employers have explored and adopted mental health first aiders who are specifically trained to assist.  This guide for those organisations is likely to be nothing new as they have already been proactive in seeking to safeguard employee wellbeing.