Mental health and wellbeing policy

An employer owes its staff a duty of care that includes the risk of stress at work, must make reasonable adjustments for employees whose mental health conditions amount to a disability, and manages absence and performance that often have a mental health cause. A wellbeing policy sets out what the employer does about each: the stress risk assessment, the support available, the adjustments considered, the way managers approach the conversation, and the confidentiality that applies. It should promise what the business will deliver and no more. I draft the policy for the employer as part of the handbook and core policies for a fixed fee of £995, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Employers in England and Wales who want a wellbeing policy with substance behind it, and employers whose absence and performance issues keep turning out to have a mental health dimension.

What matters in a mental health and wellbeing policy

The duty of care and the stress risk assessment

The employer's duty under section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 to protect employees' health includes mental health, the risk assessment under regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 must cover work-related stress, and the Health and Safety Executive's management standards (demands, control, support, relationships, role and change) set the framework employers are expected to use; the policy should state that the employer assesses the risk of work-related stress, how (surveys, the standards, team assessments), what it does with the results, and how an employee raises a concern about their own workload or treatment, because a claim for psychiatric injury caused by work is defended by showing the risk was assessed and managed.

Mental health conditions and the Equality Act

A mental health condition with a substantial and long-term adverse effect on day-to-day activities is a disability under section 6 of the Equality Act 2010, with the duty to make reasonable adjustments, the protection against discrimination arising from disability (the dismissal of an employee for absence or conduct caused by the condition, unless justified) and the protection against harassment; the policy should explain that managers may not know whether a condition is a disability and should act as if it may be, should consider adjustments whenever an employee discloses a condition, and should treat capability and conduct issues with a possible mental health cause under the procedures the sickness absence policy provides.

Support, adjustments and the return to work

The policy should set out the support the employer provides (an employee assistance programme, mental health first aiders, occupational health, signposting to external services, time off for appointments) and the adjustments it will consider (workload, hours, homeworking, a phased return, changes to duties or the working environment, additional supervision or breaks), the process for agreeing and reviewing them, and the return to work after mental health absence (a meeting before return, a phased return, a wellness action plan where the employee wants one); a policy that lists support the business does not have is the grievance, and the policy should list what exists.

Managers, conversations and the line between support and intrusion

The policy should say what managers should do when they notice changes in an employee (ask, listen, do not diagnose, signpost, agree what happens next), what they should not do (press for details, speculate about causes, share what they are told, treat disclosure as a performance issue), the training managers receive, and the recognition that some employees do not want to discuss their mental health with their manager and may use the other routes the policy provides; the policy should also address the employer's limits: it is not a clinical service, and the manager's role is support and adjustment rather than treatment.

Confidentiality, records and the limits of the employer's role

Information about an employee's mental health is health data under Article 9 of the UK GDPR and the employer's data protection policy applies: the employee's consent is sought before information is shared beyond those who need it, records are kept only where needed for adjustments and absence management, occupational health reports are handled as the policy provides, and the employer does not disclose mental health information in references or to colleagues; the policy should also state when the employer may act without consent (an immediate risk to the employee or others, where the emergency services are called), because the limits should be known in advance.

The policies alongside and what the policy should not promise

The wellbeing policy sits alongside the sickness absence policy (which governs mental health absence and the capability process), the flexible working policy under section 80F of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the anti-harassment and bullying policy (bullying is a cause of work-related stress and the policy should say so), the drugs and alcohol policy and the equality policy, and should be consistent with each; it should not promise that the employer will always accommodate, that no employee will be dismissed for absence, or that the employer takes responsibility for an employee's mental health outside work, because a promise the employer breaks is a claim, and a policy that states what the employer does is one the employer can keep.

What it costs

Staff handbook and core policies, £995. Five working days.

Employment contract, £595. One template you can reuse for a grade of staff. Five working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the employment contracts and handbooks page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A bespoke contract drafted for how you employ people
• Restrictive covenants drafted at a scope a court will uphold
• Confidentiality and intellectual property provisions that put ownership where it belongs
• The statutory particulars, so the document does the job section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires it to do
• Flexibility clauses where you genuinely need them, drafted to survive challenge
• Core policies: disciplinary, grievance, sickness absence, equal opportunities, data protection and, increasingly, AI use
• One round of amendments

What is not included

• Acting for employees
• Employment tribunal representation
• Payroll, pensions auto-enrolment and tax
• Immigration and sponsor licence work
• Day to day HR handling, disciplinaries, grievances and redundancy processes

Questions I am often asked

Do we need a stress risk assessment?

A stress risk assessment is required. The duty to assess risks to health includes work-related stress, and the regulator's management standards are the expected framework. The policy states that the employer does it and how.

An employee has disclosed anxiety and depression. Is that a disability?

It may be, if the effect is substantial and long-term, and the employer should act as if it may be: consider adjustments and apply the absence and performance procedures with that in mind. The policy tells managers to do so.

Should our policy promise an employee assistance programme?

Only if the employer has one. The policy lists the support that exists; a policy that promises support the business does not provide is a grievance waiting to happen.

Related guidance and services

• Employment contracts and handbooks, £995, the service this page describes
• Consultancy and contractor agreements, £595
• Menopause policy
• Sickness absence policy

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: October 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.