Dharma Academy for Workplace Wellbeing
After years of working with business leaders to transform their workplaces into hubs of collaboration, productivity and innovation, Dharma Centre for Workplace Wellbeing are launching its state-of-the-art virtual workplace wellbeing academy, designed to bolster your team’s workplace wellbeing efforts and fast-track your company’s journey towards legal compliance and beyond.
With roadmaps, in-depth practical training, resources, curated guides, templates, explanatory videos, access to expert guidance and the Dharma Community, your company can take the right steps to reduce legal, financial and reputational risks that arise from a failure to meet your legal obligations as an employer (i.e. not implementing a mental health and safety management system).
As a Sussex business, you’ll get 20% of your annual Dharma Academy membership if you join using the Sussex Chamber affiliate link below.
Why we decided to partner with the Dharma Academy:
87% of UK businesses are failing to comply with their legal duty of care to employees, which means that the majority of companies are sitting ducks, should regulators choose to inspect them. Mental health at work has been gaining traction over the last decade or so and nowadays, failing to manage psychosocial risks could land you and your company in some very hot water, not just financially speaking, but reputationally and legally too.
Don’t find out the hard way that your legal duty of care encompasses mental health simply because:
- The majority of businesses don’t know that current legislation requires companies that employ five people or more to have an operating mental health and safety management system.
- The majority of HR professionals and health and safety consultants are unaware of this legal requirement and are exposing organisations to unnecessary legal, financial and reputational risk.
- There are very few companies that have the required background and expertise to help businesses fully comply with their employer’s legal duty of care, and these consultancy services are beyond the reach of a small business budget.
Mental health at work and the law
Kizzy is the Health, Safety, Fire and Environment Partner at Mishcon De Reya, a top British law firm part of the "Silver Circle" of leading UK law firms. She has significant experience defending companies, senior directors and employees in health and safety prosecutions and directors' health and safety duties across many sectors and industries.
She is a member of the Health and Safety Lawyers Association and is also an Executive Committee member of the London Health and Safety Group. She has been described as a leading Individual in the Legal 500 2021-22 and was voted one of the 15 most influential health and safety professionals by SHP.
FAQ's
Is there a legal requirement to safeguard employee mental health?
Yes.
- The legislation states that organisations need to protect employees from harm which includes mental harm.
- Sentencing guidelines make reference to the risk of harm as opposed to physical harm.
- You have to mitigate that risk of harm and this includes mental health and wellbeing.
My business offers extensive employee benefits - does that make me compliant with my legal duty of care?
No.
- Regardless of the number of benefits that you offer, if you don’t have a mental health and safety management system in place, then you are in breach of the law.
- Don’t try to convince yourself (or the regulator) that the suite of benefits that you offer constitutes a system-based approach.
- Your system needs to be tested for effectiveness and ideally benchmarked against standards like ISO 45003 (the global standard for workplace wellbeing).
My business is B Corp/Great Place to Work/Investors in People/Best Companies-certified, do I comply with my legal duty of care?
Not necessarily.
- The above programmes do not require you to comply with your employer’s legal duty of care to gain certification.
- Even companies that have all the right policies and good levels of engagement still need to have an operational mental health and safety management system in place.
- Your business might have all the right components that could potentially become a system, but that’s no good if you have nothing in place to gauge whether your approach actually works.
My HR/HS consultant has advised me that implementing a mental health and safety management system is optional. Is this correct?
No.
- The recommendation to not implement a system to mitigate psychosocial risk at work is subpar advice.
- HR/HS consultants can be held criminally liable for providing negligent advice.
- Their ignorance could expose your business to financial, legal and reputational risk.
As an SME, how much will I have to pay in fines if I don't have a mental health and safety management system in place?
- Despite whether your business is big or small, the fines have gone up exponentially.
- Large businesses can expect 6-figure fines while fines for SMEs could start at 5-figures.
- Senior leaders of smaller businesses can be held personally liable and face the threat of imprisonment.