DEBATE: Should employees be given extra mental health sick days?

David Collington, Head of Benefits Consultancy at Barnett Waddingham, says NO

Mental health has rightly shot to the top of risk registers across the country, and is a core threat to the functioning of our businesses, economy and society if left unattended. But our focus should not be on extra “mental health sick days”. 

It’s vital that businesses act before days off are needed. This means fostering a safe culture where barriers are removed, emotions are acknowledged, and staff are positively encouraged to talk about mental health.

A policy of mental health sick days alone won’t achieve this; instead businesses need a considered range of preventative initiatives. 

This must include formal interventions like employee assistance programmes, mental health champions, and psychological support, alongside informal initiatives such as encouraging staff to exercise, to take up new hobbies, running online cooking clubs, or providing routes to volunteering opportunities.

Of course some staff may still need time off to cope with their mental health – but prevention strategies should be businesses’ primary focus to make a happier, a more productive workforce. 

Frances Leach, communications and campaigns consultant, says YES

The rate of sickness absence plummeted to 1.8 per cent last year, the lowest since records began. 

More people were ploughing on and working while they were sick because home-working meant they did not have to travel. 

The adverse effects the pandemic has had on our mental health are vast and have been widely reported.

Yet, many of us feel like we can’t take time off work specifically for our mental health, and aren’t comfortable explaining what’s wrong. 

This is largely to do with the stigma that still hangs onto mental illness; It’s easier to say you have food poisoning than to say you’re feeling depressed or anxious. 

Businesses should lead the way in looking after their staff’s emotional wellbeing. Having a set number of mental health sick days would reduce that stigma and encourage employees not just to take time to take care of their mental health, but to be honest about it, which is even more powerful than a day off.