Minds at Work: Making mental health a priority in the changing world of work

Minds at Work reveals that Britain’s rapidly changing labour market is creating new risks for mental health. The report finds a steep increase in the number of self-employed workers with a mental illness. Over five years the number has almost doubled, from 105,000 in 2012 to 203,000 in 2017.

The report calls for an urgent rethink of attitudes towards mental health as the world of work continues to transform. Key recommendations include:

• Reforming statutory sick pay to make it more flexible, more generous and available to workers from day one of their employment.
• Creating a new collective insurance scheme to help protect the incomes of self-employed workers if they need to take time off work.
• Alternative management approaches which focus on the value and potential of each individual, rather than the cost of their mental illness.
• Training managers in equality law and their responsibilities to employees as well as ‘soft’ management skills.

With a foreword by Alistair Campbell, the report’s authors include Josh Abey, Luciana Berger MP, Dr Jed Boardman, Gillian Connor, Kate Dearden, Gill Dix, Paul Farmer, Sally Anne Gross, Barbara Keeley MP, Roy Rickhuss, Chris O’Sullivan, Dr Ruth Yeoman.