Changing jobs is a big move but it’s worth considering if your workplace is toxic

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Disgruntled with their jobs, nearly half indicate high levels of job-related stress.

where poor leadership and non-constructive behaviour negatively impact employee wellbeing and efficiency.

Key indicators include bloody savaging, harassment, lack of trust, poor communication and high job strain.

If you're struggling, I recommend taking some time for yourself and get support.

If you reckon your work environment's become toxic, it's worth mullin' over how it's affecting your mental health. You should also consider just how serious your employer is about lookin' after the mental wellbeing of its staff.

Toxicity can creep in through sneaky habits like constant meddling, excluding others or wearing away morale. This behaviour creates a draining work environment that hurts individual happiness and hurts the business.

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Mental health-related workers' compo claims have gone up by more than a third since '17-'18.

In 2021-2022, there were 11,700 accepted claims about people's mental health. These cases were a big financial burden on employers, with the average payout being $58,615.

In 2021 to help manage psychological health and safety risks in workplaces, the US had a major focus.

Employers are now accountable for preventing and managing work-related stress through the introduction of relevant laws and standards.

to ensure companies take the necessary actions in responding to mental health threats.

What your employer is doing in the following three areas may demonstrate how committed they are to supporting employee mental health.

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This relates to protecting employees from physical hazards, such as slipping, tripping and falling.

hazards.

As well as state and territory authorities, maintain a list of common risks.

These include harassment, extreme workloads, not being in charge of your work, lack of clear job roles and being exposed to traumatic events, for instance, seeing an accident.

They're often stuck on their own, dealing with heavy administrative workloads, and sometimes having to handle aggressive students and/or parents.

Most bosses can make these improvements, such as making workloads more fair, rethinking what employees do on the job and giving them more help when they need it.

Research has shown that many employees around the world will experience common mental health problems such as anxiety, depression and stress at some stage in their life. Mental health issues can affect an individual in many ways, from their work performance and relationships through to their overall wellbeing.

Despite efforts to keep psychosocial risks to a minimum, unfortunately some workplace players can still suffer from mental health concerns.

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Supervisors can also help by recognising signs of suffering, having sensitive chats with staff about the effects of mental illness and implementing reasonable changes to their positions.

Which can provide confidential short-term advice, can also assist.

For events that have disrupted staff mental wellbeing, looking at past instances can assist in pinpointing the factors that led to these incidents and inform how responses to them can be improved.

3. Promoting the positive

As well as managing the downsides of work, businesses can create conditions that promote staff mental health and wellbeing.

Work arrangements, such as flexible/job-share work, can provide employees with more control over their workplace location and work schedule.

This might involve team-building activities, social gatherings and chances for staff to get to know each other better.

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It's suggested that employees will be most satisfied in jobs that provide stimulation (for example, working on meaningful problems), or summarised to expertise (getting mentoring or constructive feedback), individual freedom (creative independence), social links (matesyst supportive workmate) and tolerable demands (no nasty work stuff).

Should I stick around or should I leave?

Choosing to leave an employer needs a bit of serious thought.

Beyond your own mental health, have a think about how your workplace values mental wellbeing and how at ease you'd feel having a yarn about mental health.

Give a bit of thought to this, though – staying in a workplace with a bad atmosphere can lead to serious long-term effects on both your mental and physical wellbeing.

A university's director of careers may tap into the insights of experts from diverse fields, such as career coaches, professors and industry leaders.

Whatever you decide, putting your mental health and wellbeing as your top priority should be the focus of your decision making.

Timothy Colin Bednall holds a part-time position as Head of Data Science with FlourishDx, a consultancy that focuses on workplace mental health support. He gets funding from the National Mental Health Commission.

Kathryn Page has previously received funding from organisations like WorkSafe Victoria, SuperFriend, VicHealth, and the NHMRC for research into workplace mental health. On top of her role as Adjunct Professor at Swinburne University, Kathryn works full-time as a Leadership Partner with ByMany, a leadership consultancy that doesn't do psychological workplace assessments.