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Supporting your People

Respond and adapt to meet people’s needs at work

Suggested Actions

Use tools such as Wellness Action Plans to understand and support individual needs
Small, Medium & Large
Give managers time to regularly review wellbeing support and tools (e.g. wellness action plans) with the individual to reflect changing needs
Micro
Build in time to regularly review wellbeing support and tools with the individual to reflect changing needs
Make reasonable adjustments to roles, working conditions or expectations where needed
Provide flexibility, including time off where appropriate, to help people manage their mental health, such as attending appointments or taking time to recover
Provide guidance for people who support others’ mental health, ensuring they know where to go for help when they need it

Roles that might require this guidance could be managers, wellbeing champions or mental health first aiders

Recognise when someone may need additional support and respond appropriately with care and in a timely manner

Resources & Downloads


Reasonable adjustments are changes an employer makes to remove or reduce a disadvantage related to someone's disability. They are specific to an individual person and they can be for physical or mental health conditions. They can also cover any area of work.

If a worker has poor mental health, it's important their employer takes it seriously and with the same care as a physical illness. Stress is not classed as a medical condition. But it can still be serious and cause, or make worse, other mental health conditions.

This is an independent research paper produced by Dr Joanna Yarker, Alice Sinclair, Dr Emma Donaldson-Feilder and Dr Rachel Lewis of Affinity Health at Work, a workplace health and wellbeing consultancy and research group.

We believe that maintaining work is not just a means to earning a living but can also play an important role in our wellbeing.

Given the high levels of stress and poor mental health we are seeing in the workplace, there is a growing demand for innovative and proactive ways of managing our mental health at work.

Wellness Actions Plans are an easy, practical way of helping you support your own mental health at work.

And if you're a manager, they allow you to support the mental health of your team members.

When your work is focused on caring for others, it’s perhaps all the more important that you feel able to speak openly about your own mental health, and seek support when you need it.

DWP has worked in partnership with Autism Alliance UK and the Autism Task Group, comprising: disabled people, parents and advocates, disability organisations and medical professionals/ academics.

ADHD can be a disability under the Equality Act 2010, if the condition has a substantial and long-term negative effect on an individual’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
Get access to Thrivelaw's Reasonable Adjustments Toolkit
Neurodiversity and disability are part of human diversity. Understanding them helps create workplaces where more people can contribute and thrive.
Employer Spotlight

Leeds Beckett University

Leeds Beckett University has worked hard to create a strong business case for mental health as evidenced by their long-standing external commitments to mental health as a Mindful Employer

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