Mental health and wellbeing at work in the UK: current legal approaches

Almond, P. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7441-069X, Horton, R. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7054-6389 and James, G. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1098-1506 (2022) Mental health and wellbeing at work in the UK: current legal approaches. Legal Studies, 42 (4). pp. 663-679. ISSN 1748-121X doi: 10.1017/lst.2022.16

Abstract/Summary

In this paper we outline and critique legal approaches to poor mental health at work in the UK. We argue that the current legal framework is not ‘fit for purpose’. Overall, the existing framework promotes a problematic model that is ineffective because each element, individually and as part of the whole, fails to adequately engage with the nuanced realities of the relationship between undertaking paid work and suffering poor mental health. It is, we suggest, disjointed because it has evolved from a patchwork of provisions, each with different foundations, motivations, ambitions and flaws. The need for a re-focus, and what this might entail, is considered, and the capacity of a model centred on addressing workplace mental health as a manifestation of broader notions of vulnerability is explored.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/104603
Identification Number/DOI	10.1017/lst.2022.16
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Arts, Humanities and Social Science > School of Law
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
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