Mental Health and Employment:
Promoting Social Inclusion
in the Workplace
Margret Fine-Davis
Social Attitude and Policy Research Group
Trinity College
Talk to
Irish Association for Supported Employment
Kilkenny, 10 October 2009
National Flexi-Work Partnership
EUROPEAN SOCIAL FUND: helping
develop employment by promoting
employability, the business spirit and
equal opportunities and investing in
human resources
The Work-Life Balance
Project
University of Dublin
Trinity College
For all older people
Consortium of Organisations
in Project






Centre for Gender and Women’s
Studies, Trinity College Dublin
Irish Business and Employer’s
Confederation (IBEC)
Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU)
FAS – the National Training Authority
Aware
Age Action Ireland
Aims
To develop new models of working
which will:
• Facilitate the reconciliation of work and
family life
• Include groups with difficulty in
attaining or maintaining employment
• Encourage employers and policy
makers to incorporate these models
into their normal practices
Sub Projects and Studies





Pilot Projects to Test and Evaluate Flexible
Working
Nationwide Representative Survey of WorkLife Balance
(sample of 1,212)
Survey of Mental Health and the Workplace
(sample of 133)
to include special focus on:
Working Parents and Carers

Older People

National Flexi-work Partnership:
Work-Life Balance Project
“Mental Health & Employment:
Promoting Social Inclusion in the
Workforce”
Margret Fine-Davis, Mary McCarthy, Grace Edge and
Ciara O’Dwyer
Background

300,000 or 1 in 14 people
in Ireland suffer from
depression
Social and Economic Rationale


Social: Everybody has the right to the
opportunity of participating in economic
life of the country
Economic: If economic growth is to be
sustained all sources of labour must be
utilised (NCPP, 2005)
Benefits of Working






Structure
Financial security
Interpersonal contact
Opportunity for skill use
Opportunity for self fulfilment and
achievement
Sense of identity
Specific Benefits of Working
for People with Mental Health
Problems



Coping mechanism
Benefits are affiliative (i.e. not purely
economic)
Protects against depression (Brown and
Harris, 1978)
Benefits cont’d


Foster 1999: In relation to mental
health rehabilitation “opportunities for
employment are crucial”
Auerbach and Richardson 2005:
“Not only was work a contributor to the
person’s identity it was also an antidote
to the person’s problems”
Benefits of Flexible Working for
People with Mental Health
Problems


Enables people with mental health
problems to retain employment
Gives a message to employees that the
organisation values them and that they
can still contribute even during times of
poor mental health
Stigmatisation
Interaction between
stigmatisation and disclosure
of illness:


Fear that disclosure will lead to
stigmatisation and stereotyping in the
workplace
Fear of damaging promotional and
career prospects
Disclosure


McKeon 1995 – 52% of people
with MHP gave fictitious account of
diagnosis to employer
McKeon 2005 - 87% of people
with MHP gave fictitious account of
diagnosis to employer
Research Method
Sampling Design



Respondents recruited mainly through
AWARE
Interviews carried out with 133 people
who had experienced MHP, specifically
depression
Interviews carried out on a one to one
basis
Sample Design cont’d
Sample stratified by
employment status
 and gender

Characteristics of the Sample

Employed: 44%, Non-employed 56%

Males: 44%, Females: 56%

Average age: 45 years
Gender and Employment
Status
Nonemployed
Total
(n=59)
(n=74)
(N=133)
52.5%
47.5%
100.0%
37.8%
62.2%
100.0%
44.4%
55.6%
100.0%
Employed
Male
Female
Total
Questionnaire






Demographics
Work and work arrangements (currently
employed)
Work history and preferences (non-employed)
Work and mental health problems (currently and
non-employed)
Experience of people with mental health problems
in the workplace (currently & previously
employed)
Work-Life balance and well-being
Educational Attainment




People with mental health problems in our
sample have a high level of educational
attainment:
45.8% of the employed have university
degree or more
11.9% - 3rd level degree
33.9% - post graduate qualification
Educational Attainment
Non-Employed
39.3% of non employed have university
degree or more


14.9% - 3rd level degree
24.4% - post graduate qualifications
Type of Organisation and
Employment Status
Type of
Nonorganisation Employed employed Total
Public
Private
35.6%
54.2%
Community/NGO 10.2%
30.1%
67.1%
2.7%
32.6%
61.4%
6.1%
Total
100.0%
100.0%
100.0%
Reasons why Non-Employed
Left Workforce

58.9% of the previously
employed left work due to
their mental health problems
Desire to Return to Work
72% of the non-employed said
that they would like to return to
employment
 However just 55.4% of these
thought that they actually
would return

Work Characteristics
Individual Flexibility


62.6% of currently employed had some
degree of flexibility in their work
schedule
Whereas only 30.1% of previously
employed had some degree of flexibility
in their work schedule

This illustrates the fact that flexibility is
key to remaining in employment for
people with mental health problems
Effect of Flexible Working on
Career

Over half (55.5%) of the
currently employed said that
flexible working had a
positive effect on their career
Effect of Flexible Working on
Mental Health
77.7% of employed
respondents said that working
flexibly had a positive effect on
their mental health
 61.9% of non-employed also
said it had a positive effect

To what extent people with mental health
problems are stigmatised
Employed
(n=56)
A fair
amount
A great
deal
Total
Total
(N=124)
32.1%
NonEmployed
(n=68)
22.1%
35.7%
38.2%
37.1%
67.8%
60.3%
63.7%
26.6%
Effect of own workplace on
mental health
Employed
(n=57)
Previously
employed
(n=73)
Negatively
Neither
17.6%
5.3%
56.2%
15.1%
Positively
77.3%
28.8%
Total
100%
100%
Increasing Stress Levels of Irish
Workers

A survey carried for the Forum of the
Workplace of the Future (National
Centre for Partnership and Performance,
2005) found that Irish workers are
experiencing increased levels of
pressure and stress.


As a result increasing numbers of
workers are in need of greater work-life
balance.
Stress has particularly detrimental
effects for people with mental health
difficulties.
How often feel under stress
Employed
(n=59)
Very often 23.7%
Always
3.4%
Total
27.1%
NonEmployed
(n=73)
Nationwide
Sample
(N=1202)
26.0%
6.1%
6.8%
32.8%
2.5%
8.6%
Life Satisfaction
Dissatisfied
Satisfied
Very
Satisfied
Employed
(n=59)
NonEmployed
(n=74)
Nationwide
Sample
(N=1208)
22%
44.6%
19.3%
30.5%
33.8%
50%
13.6%
9.5%
30.7%
Work and Mental Health
Problems
Mental Health and the Workplace
– Negative Experiences



17.4% reported having received verbal
abuse from colleagues
19.7% reported having received verbal
abuse from a manager/supervisor
30.5% reported having been excluded
in the workplace
Mental Health and the Workplace
– Negative Experiences




21.4% reported having
workload lessened
25.8% reported having
rebuked
28.8% reported having
over for promotion
16.9% reported having
description changed
had their
been unfairly
been passed
had their job
Attitudes to Mental Health
and the Workplace: A Comparison of
the Nationwide and Mental Health
Samples
Factor I: Positive Attitudes to Facilitating
People with Mental Health Problems in the
Workplace
“If people with mental health
problems need flexibility at
work in order to stay in the
workplace, their colleagues
should make allowances for
this”
“People should be able to be
more open in the workplace
about mental health issues”
Nationwide
(N=1212)
% Agree
Mental
Health
(N=133)
% Agree
89%
94%
93.6%
95.4%
Positive Attitudes to Facilitating People with
Mental Health Problems in the Workplace
Nationwide
(N=1212)
% Agree
Mental
Health
(N=133)
% Agree
92%
97.7%
“It is in the interest of employers to
support people with mental health
problems so as to retain their skills &
experience”
92.7%
100%
“Employers should make a special effort
to accommodate the particular needs of
employees with mental health problems
in the workplace”
90.3%
97.7%
“Mental health problems should be
regarded in the same way as any other
illness”
Factor II: Denial and Concealment of Mental
Health Problems
“It is not in an employees’
best interest to
discuss/disclose mental
health problems in the
workplace”
“People with depression
aren’t really ill – they
should just pull themselves
together”
Nationwide
(N=1212)
% Agree
Mental
Health
(N=133)
% Agree
69%
79.6%
6.6%
3%
The issue of disclosure:
To disclose or not
to disclose?
Disclosure
Just over 53% of the total
sample had disclosed
 62.7% of employed had
disclosed
 45.2% of previously employed
had disclosed

Disclosure
44.7% of the total sample had
never spoken to anyone at
work regarding their mental
health problems
Disclosure at Interview



37.8% of currently employed had
disclosed at interview
21.9% of non-employed had disclosed
at interview
Overall over two thirds of the total
sample felt unable to disclose at
interview
Disclosure cont’d
60% would advise a friend
not to disclose if applying to
a new job
Disclosure cont’d


61.1% of currently employed
respondents felt that disclosure had
had a positive effect on them
whereas only 34.5% of the nonemployed reported that disclosure
had had a positive effect on them
Workplace Supports and
Disclosure
If you don’t disclose you may
forgo the opportunity of availing
of support (via personnel and
programmes) in the workplace
Difficulties for Employers

Non disclosure makes it difficult
for employers to develop
practical strategies to support
and assist employees with
mental health needs
Coping with an Episode of Ill
Health at Work



67.4% of all respondents said that they
used sick leave during periods of poorhealth
Flexible arrangements were available to
37.7% of respondents.
When flexible arrangements were
available, they were the most availed of
option with a take-up rate of 79.6%
Benefits of Flexible Working during
Periods of Poor Mental Health


Employee: provides a continued
opportunity to engage in the world of
work
Employers: retain skilled staff, save
money on recruitment/training of new
staff
Most Important Factors which
support People at Work


49.6% of all respondents said that
supportive attitudes at work were the
most important factor in maintaining
people with mental health problems in
employment
24.1% said flexible hours were the
second most important factor
Evaluation of Workplace
Support


Personnel and programmes which deal with
mental health in the workplace are becoming
more widely available and in general they
were positively evaluated by employees
However 59.2% of all respondents felt they
had little or no support available to them in
times of poor mental health
Benefits of Putting support in
place



Symbolises commitment of organisation
to staff during periods of poor mental
health
Assists employees during episodes of
poor mental health
Promotes positive awareness and
understanding of mental health
amongst staff in general
Mental Health and Equality


83.1% of all respondents were
aware of the Equality Authority
53.1% said that they were aware
that discrimination against people
with mental health problems was
prohibited by law
Recommendations
Recommendations
Work-life balance and flexible working
 The promotion of work-life balance through
the availability of flexible working
arrangements is recommended
 It contributes to the good mental well-being
of ALL employees
 It has added therapeutic and protective
values for people with mental health
problems in particular
Recommendations
Access to employment
 Employers should be aware how difficult
re-entry is for those who have had to
leave the workplace
 Government initiatives which facilitate
re-entry should be continued and
developed
Recommendations
Company policy and practice
 Companies should be more open about
what help they have available
 All efforts should be made to facilitate
retention in employment
Recommendations
Company ethos
 Unless the overall culture of the
company includes a positive and
accepting attitude towards mental
health problems, employees will not
feel empowered to disclose or access
the support available
Recommendations
Awareness training
 Awareness training for all staff, not just
HR
 All stakeholders in the organisation
need to be knowledgeable about mental
health and other diversity issues
Recommendations
Integration of mental health into the
diversity agenda
 Information about the needs of people
with mental health problems should be
more fully integrated into the area of
Diversity Training and Awareness in the
workplace
Recommendations
Disclosure
 Disclosure – implications for employers and
employees
 Disclosure can make it easier to come to work
during periods of heightened symptoms
 Non-disclosure can be detrimental to the
process of recovery
 Disclosure allows the worker to request
reasonable accommodation
Recommendations


One person’s disclosure may empower
another's
Disclosure may help a person to feel secure in
the workplace