Mental health is an issue businesses cannot afford to ignore. It affects how employees think, feel, and act. It also impacts on how they handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. The cost to a business of not effectively supporting employees with, or who acquire, a mental health issue is big – both financially and in terms of performance.

Just 13% of staff felt able to disclose a mental health issue to their workplace.

1 in 4 people in the UK will experience some king of mental health issues in a given year.

£1035 is the estimated cost per employee each year to UK businesses.

31% of the UK workforce have been formally diagnosed with a mental health issue.

£8.4 billion – The annual business costs of mental health due to sickness absences is £8.4 billion.

£2.4 billion – The annual business costs of mental health due to staff turnover is £2.4 billion.

£15.1 billion – The annual business costs of mental health due to reduced productivity is £15.1 billion.

£70 billion – Mental health issues cost the UK £70 billion per year.

£50,000 – A small organisation employing 50 workers will typically incur costs of around £50,000 a year because of mental health problems among its employees.

£850 – Average costs per manual worker are estimated at around £850 a year (4.3% of total pay).

£1,125 – Average costs per non-manual worker are estimated at around £1,125  a year (3.3% of total pay).

1 million people with mental health problems claiming long-term incapacity benefit and a further 0.5 million claiming shorter-term unemployment benefits.