Anxiety can be dismissed

You should apply reasonable and fair principles relating to sickness absence management and ensure that managers, senior leaders and any staff undertaking absence management are familiar with and are applying your policies and procedures. They also need to be aware of potentially wider risks and steps that may need to be taken to support a member of staff with a mental health condition.

Often the difficulty with mental health conditions is that obtaining definitive information, particularly about prognosis, can be very hard. This may mean that you need to take proactive steps to enquire beyond the reasons given on Fit certificates.

Children’s future and the wellbeing of school staff are interconnected, as healthy teachers are better able to provide a high-quality education and support for pupils. This will, in turn, cultivate a mentally healthy school, help retain and motivate staff and promote pupil wellbeing and attainment.

Current employment tribunal statistics available on claims made between April 2021 and March 2022 confirm that the maximum award made in a disability discrimination case was £225,893, with average awards of £26,172; not small sums! On top of these are the costs of management and staff time spent in responding to the claim and preparing for the tribunal as well as witness attendance at any hearing.

Much of the responsibility will fall on the principal, headteacher and/or senior management team. It is important for these individuals to remember to look after themselves as good mental health and best practice will be modelled on these individuals’ behaviours and ensure a culture of trust between staff.

Whilst individual schools can and should identify actions, I feel there needs to be a concerted effort from the Government and relevant bodies to better support schools in order to tackle the issue of staff mental health. The Department for Education introduced the Wellbeing Charter in 2021 for all employees working in state education settings as a shared commitment to promote and enhance the wellbeing of staff. Independent schools have been encouraged to make use of the principles and organisational commitments in the charter but cannot sign up to it. ●

LOUISE BRENLUND is a Partner and Head of Employment at Warners Solicitors. She can be contacted for further information on discrimination training, employment policies and procedures or any other employment law matters. Telephone: 01732 375325; Email: l.brenlund@warners.law