More absence, but less impact on business performance. What can we learn from Swedish approaches to managing workplace mental health?

Using employer-level survey data, this report compares how firms in England, Ireland and Sweden are responding to the challenges of workplace mental health. The three countries adopt very different approaches to the funding and provision of healthcare services and sickness benefits, with expenditure on mental health issues much higher in Sweden than in England and Ireland. Descriptive analysis of the survey data reveals significant differences between employers in the three countries, with Swedish firms reporting higher levels of mental health-related absence and much more long-term absence. Given that overall levels of mental health issues in the three countries are similar, this suggests underreporting of mental health issues by English and Irish employers, potentially driven by cultural factors and stigma associated with mental health issues. Swedish firms also report fewer firm-level impacts of mental health absence, as well as more widespread uptake of strategic and wellbeing initiatives for mental health. In the broader context of the availability of long-term government-funded sickness pay, this suggests that the more holistic approach to managing workplace mental health issues prevalent in Sweden may lead to lower levels of detrimental performance impacts. Policy implications are discussed.