The real cost of ignoring mental health at work

Here’s a thought: when was the last time a poster in the staff kitchen genuinely changed how you felt about your job? Thought so.

Mental health at work isn’t about bright slogans, a “wellbeing week,” or throwing in a free yoga class once a year. It’s about culture. Day in, day out. And when it isn’t built into how you work, the cost is eye-watering.

The cost we pretend not to see

UK employers lose an estimated £56 billion every year to poor mental health. That’s not just sick days – in fact, most of it isn’t.

1. £28 billion comes from presenteeism: people showing up but running on empty.
2. £22 billion is down to staff turnover. People don’t quit for more fruit in the break room; they leave when their wellbeing is ignored.
3. Only £6 billion is actual absenteeism.

That means the biggest cost isn’t when people stay home. It’s when they turn up and quietly burn out.

Where companies get it wrong

A lot of businesses still treat mental health like an optional extra. A line in the handbook, a link to an app, maybe a mindfulness webinar if you’re lucky. That’s not support – that’s window dressing.

Worse still, too many put the responsibility back on employees: “Remember to drink water, stretch, and breathe.” Sure, those things help, but they don’t fix unrealistic deadlines, a culture that worships long hours, or managers who think resilience means “suffer in silence.”

What good looks like

A healthy culture doesn’t have a launch date or a marketing campaign. It’s stitched into the way people actually work. That looks like:

1. Leaders setting the tone: If managers send emails at midnight, no one believes flexible working is real.
2. Realistic workloads: Being “always on” is not a badge of honour.
3. Trained managers: Who can spot the signs, listen properly, and respond with more than “take a break.”
4. Everyday conversations: Mental health isn’t just a check-in box on an appraisal form.

The businesses doing it well aren’t perfect—they’re proactive. They make support visible, usable, and consistent, not hidden behind HR jargon.

Why it matters more than ever

In 2023, mental ill-health became the leading cause of workplace absence in the UK, costing around £57 billion. Nearly a third of all sick days are now down to stress, anxiety, or depression. And for people planning to quit, 61% say poor mental health is part of the reason.

That’s the point: this isn’t about charity, it’s about survival. A workplace that ignores mental health will lose its best people—often the ones holding everything together. And it doesn’t take long for that to show up in retention, recruitment costs, and the bottom line.

The bottom line

Mental health at work isn’t a perk. It’s not optional. It’s culture.

The cost of ignoring it? Billions lost. People drained. Creativity stifled. Reputations damaged.

So ask yourself honestly, are you embedding mental health into how your business works, or are you still slapping posters over the cracks?