A tenth (11%) of employees have taken time off work for mental health reasons in the past year, according to research by health plan provider Simplyhealth.
Its survey of 500 UK HR managers and 2,000 UK employees for the report, which has been published during Mental Health Awareness Week (12-18 May 2025), also found that more than a quarter (27%) of respondents who said they have taken time off work for mental health reasons took more than two weeks.
Almost a fifth (16%) of 18-34 year-olds said they have taken time off work for mental health reasons, compared to a tenth (10%) of respondents aged 35-54 years.
Mental health was the third most common reason for taking time off work, behind minor illnesses (23%), and muscle or joint pain (12%). The majority of respondents who took sick leave for these complaints took up to two days off (57% and 47% respectively), compared to two weeks for those taking time for mental health reasons (27%). Mental health often led to longer periods of sickness than other common reasons for sick leave last year.
Three-quarters (73%) of employer respondents said they feel greater responsibility to look after the health of all their employees in the wake of longer NHS waiting times. Despite this, only 40% of employee respondents said they are offered health plans or employee assistance programmes by their employer.
Of the employer respondents that did provide health benefits, 46% noticed employees taking fewer sick days.
Paul Schreier, chief executive officer at Simplyhealth, said: “With workers increasingly taking time off for mental health issues, employers need access to simple, easy and affordable solutions for their employees. By offering mental health benefits to their employees, employers can support their workers by preventing symptoms from worsening in the first place, encouraging a healthy, happy, and productive workforce.”
Mark Rowland, chief executive at the Mental Health Foundation, added: “Proper support is critical to help employees struggling with mental health and prevent conditions worsening in the long term. While there’s an urgent need for policy changes to better support those struggling, there is also a place for employers to offer accessible and efficient mental health services. This could be access to 24/7 helplines, long-term counselling, or mental health first aid training.”
