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How to implement the Thriving At Work mental health standards in your workplace


Organisation: Mind

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This accessible guide from Mind is designed to help all employers to understand and implement the core standards recommended in Thriving at Work, the Stevenson/Farmer review of workplace mental health.


Thriving at Work: the Stevenson/Farmer review of mental health and employers​Thriving at work: the Stevenson / Farmer review of mental health and employers PDF An independent review into how employers can better support all employees' mental health, including recommended core standards.Free By: Department for Work and Pensions / Department of Health and Social Care View resource, was published in October 2017. Commissioned by the Prime Minister, it looked into how employers can better support all employees, including those with poor mental health or wellbeing, to remain in and thrive at work.

This guide, published by Mind one year after the initial review, is designed to help employers to understand and implement the standards and actions that Thriving at Work recommends. It covers the six core standards that every organisation should adopt:

  • Produce, implement and communicate a mental health at work plan that encourages and promotes good mental health of all staff and an open organisational culture
  • Develop mental health awareness among employees by making information, tools and support accessible
  • Encourage open conversations about mental health and the support available when employees are struggling, during the recruitment process and at regular intervals throughout employment, with appropriate workplace adjustments offered to employees who require them
  • Provide your employees with good working conditions and ensure they have a healthy work/life balance and opportunities for development
  • Promote effective people management to ensure all employees have a regular conversation about their health and wellbeing with their line manager, supervisor or organisational leader and train and support line managers in effective management practices
  • Routinely monitor employee mental health and wellbeing by understanding available data, talking to employees, and understanding risk factors

It also covers the four enhanced standards that are designed for larger employers and the public sector, but could also be adopted by anyone:

  • Increase transparency and accountability through internal and external reporting to include a leadership commitment and outline of the organisation’s progress on mental health
  • Demonstrate accountability by nominating a health and wellbeing lead at Board or Senior Leadership level, with clear reporting duties and responsibilities to encourage openness during recruitment, ensuring employees are aware of why information is required and make sure the right support is in place to facilitate a good employer response following disclosure
  • Ensure provision of tailored in-house mental health support
  • and signposting to clinical help and signposting to clinical help, including digital support, employer-purchased Occupational Health or Employee Assistance Programmes, or NHS services, amongst other sources of support

For each standard, it outlines the purpose and value of implementing it and who might be responsible within an organisation. It then presents a clear step-by-step series of tips and advice.

It’s designed to be useful to organisations of all sizes, types and sectors. It should also be equally able to help whether you’re just taking the first steps, or whether you’re further along and looking to formalise your approach and measure how well you’re doing.

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Organisation: Mind
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Mind provides advice and support on mental health, and campaigns to improve understanding, across England and Wales.

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