Are you unhappy at your workplace?

If you’re unhappy at your workplace, it can have a profound effect on your daily life, relationships, health and wellbeing. There are legal protections, resources and services that can help address your concerns.

How do poor working conditions affect mental health?

Research has associated toxic work environments with increased depression, anxiety, substance use, and burnout/emotional exhaustion. All of which can also have a detrimental impact on physical health. This highlights how important it is for people to get early support with work-related issues.

What is occupational health?

Your employer has a legal responsibility to support you with health issues and provide support by referring you to occupational health. They will conduct an assessment and write a report advising your workplace on how they can support you.

What steps can you take?

The first step you can take to improve your wellbeing at work is to address the reasons for your unhappiness. There can be numerous reasons including pay, colleagues, demands from the job itself etc. Once you identify the contributing factors to your unhappiness, you will be able to take steps to improve your circumstances.

Try to make changes if possible. You can speak to a supervisor about the aspects making you unhappy to see if action can be taken. If this is not an option, a change of job may be appropriate. This can be an internal job swap or an external role. The Space can signpost you to organisations that can support you with finding a new job role.

The Citizens Advice Bureau’s website has an informative page regarding the steps to take to deal with an issue at work including speaking to your employer, raising a grievance and going to a tribunal. You should contact your nearest Citizens Advice Bureau if you need support with a work-related issue.

Are you being discriminated against on the grounds of your mental health?

The Equality Act 2010 states that a mental health condition is a disability if it has a substantial and long-term impact on your ability to conduct day to day activities. Disability is a protected characteristic of the Equality Act 2010. Therefore, an employer cannot discriminate against you based on it.

Do you need to take sick leave?

If your mental health is affecting your ability to work and it’s best for your health to take sick leave, your workplace may ask for a sick note. Organisations have different sick leave policies which you should follow.

They may also ask you to provide a sick note if you are on sick leave for more than 28 days. You should contact your GP who can write one. The GOV.UK website provides additional information on your rights when taking sick leave.