One in five Australians experience a mental illness each year. As employers, it’s important to make sure your employees mental wellbeing is looked after or you may face issues with engagement, productivity and absenteeism. The reality is that mental wellbeing is an occupational health and safety issue, so it’s not one that employers should or can ignore. Looking after employees’ wellbeing is a crucial part of maintaining a safe workplace.

Here are three ways you can look after your employees’ mental wellbeing.

1. Keep it open

If people feel they need to bottle up how they’re feeling or hide their mental illness, it can actually exacerbate their problems. At one end of the spectrum your employees may fear stigma or discrimination while at the other end they may simply not feel comfortable telling you how they feel. To avoid this you can foster an open-door culture where people are comfortable to talk to you about what they’re going through and know that they’ll be heard, understood and supported. As people realise that it’s alright to be vulnerable in the workplace they may become more open and even feel ready to share issues with their colleagues. This in turn may even help others who are unknowingly experiencing something similar.

2. Use flexible policies

Many workplaces now have policies in place that give employees flexibility. While this isn’t always possible, particularly for people who do shift work or must be physically present on site, there’s usually some scope to allow your employees to work around their illness. Whether it’s letting them access leave in lieu, working from home occasionally or change their hours so they can attend appointments, just knowing that there is flexibility and understanding may help some people cope with their illness better.

3. Refer them to help

If an employee may be struggling with mental health issues, there are many resources available that they could be referred to. Some workplaces have their own employee assistance programs in place which are a good starting point. But even if this resource is not available, organisations like Beyond Blue and Sane have resources available that offer support and guidance to people struggling with mental wellbeing issues. By receiving an offer of support, employees realise they’re valued and that they’re not alone. These are both things that will contribute to their mental wellbeing.

Looking after your employees is an important part of the role of any manager. To help you look after your workforce, partner with an agency who understands how important it is.