Mindful Employer Charter

As an employer we recognise that in the UK, people experiencing mental ill health continue to report stigma and discrimination at work. Having signed the ‘Charter for Employers Positive about Mental Health’, we are committed to creating a supportive and open culture, where colleagues feel able to talk about mental health confidently, and aspire to appropriately support the mental wellbeing of all staff.

As an employer, we have made an on-going commitment to:

1. Provide non-judgemental and proactive support to staff experiencing mental ill health.
2. Not make assumptions about a person with a mental health condition and their ability to work.
3. Be positive and enabling towards all employees and job applicants with a mental health condition.
4. Support line managers in managing mental health in the workplace.
5. Ensure we are fair in the recruitment of new staff in accordance with the Equality Act (2010).
6. Make it clear that people who have experienced mental ill health will not be discriminated against, and that disclosure of a mental health problem will enable both the employee and employer to assess and provide the right level of support or adjustment.

We have quickly got to work on implementing our mental health and wellbeing strategy by introducing several new processes / support mechanisms for our employees, including:

1. Completing personalised Wellbeing Action Plans (WAP) for every member of staff which will be reviewed at least annually.
2. Enrolling several staff members to become Mental Health First Aiders.
3. Encouraging staff to complete a bi-weekly 'check-in' survey which will prompt support from management if employees indicate that they are struggling.
4. Incorporated awareness of mental health and wellbeing into our induction training programme.

For more information visit https://www.mindfulemployer.dpt.nhs.uk/.