We鈥檝e joined one of Britain鈥檚 best-known聽retail groups to call on the Government to spark a revolution in workplace health and wellbeing.

We鈥檙e among the signatories on a letter spearheaded by the John Lewis Retail Partnership asking for the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to ensure more is done to improve the health of the nation鈥檚 workers.

The letter says: 鈥淲e hope this can be the start of a new dynamic partnership between government, employers and charities to support the physical and mental health of our 32.7 million workers.鈥�

It calls on:聽

  • the Government to make free occupational health services for workers a non-taxable benefit in kind to promote investment from employers;
  • business to take a leadership role in promoting good physical and mental health at work;
  • business and Government together to bring together practical advice on both physical and mental health to help employers, who do not know where to start in investing in health and wellbeing.

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Kris Ambler, our workforce lead, said: 鈥淲e鈥檙e thoroughly supporting this call from the John Lewis Partnership and delighted to be part of this conversation. This gives us another high-profile opportunity to talk about how counselling can be crucial in improving employees鈥� mental health and wellbeing.

鈥淲e know that employers who prioritise their staff鈥檚 mental health generally see benefits including improved morale, loyalty, creativity and retention. It also reduces staff absences, presenteeism the losses associated with lower productivity.

Workplace counselling

鈥淲orkplace counselling should be a key part of employers鈥� priorities when they invest in their staff. It makes good business sense from both an economic and moral perspective."

The John Lewis Partnership recently launched the Working Well Coalition, featuring a group of employers, MPs, charities and think tanks who are all working to improve the health of the nation鈥檚 employees, of which the 香港六合彩精准资料 is part of.

Its , published last month, revealed that the estimated annual savings for UK businesses from improved productivity and reduced absenteeism per year could be as much as 拢38.1billion by 2025. This can be achieved by having early clinical interventions for mental health and musculoskeletal conditions.聽

Four in five UK workers say that support from their employer could help them recover quicker.

The Working Well report included quotes from John Lewis Partnership Section Manager called Matt who described how counselling had helped him cope with anxiety.

He said: 鈥淚t had been overwhelming me and came to a tipping point when one morning I couldn鈥檛 get up and had to call in sick. When I came back to work I told my manager the truth and called Partner Support to get help.

More in control of emotions

鈥淭hey told me about our health services and psychology support services and I now have regular counselling sessions and already feel better and more in control of my emotions.

鈥淭here was no waiting time and I was able to get help immediately and remain at work.

"I bottled things up for so long and it鈥檚 such a relief to be open about it.鈥�

The report was also mentioned during a debate in Parliament earlier this month.