<p>Employers must do more to support the mental wellbeing of their staff after they return to work after sick leave, a leading mental health charity warns.</p>
<p>A new report finds many people suffer depression on returning to work after a period of prolonged absence for both physical and mental illnesses.</p>
<p>It calls for managers to produce better "return to work" schemes for the sick.</p>
<p>Firms should not allow this to be sidelined as a result of the recession, the Mental Health Foundation adds. <br />If anything, employers should ensure valuable staff are able to be as productive as possible as hard times hit, the charity said.</p>
<p>The research, carried out at Loughborough University, found nearly half of those who returned to work after a physical illness such as chronic back pain, cancer or heart disease, reported mild to moderate symptoms of depressions.</p>
<p>“ It's understandable that people still feel more comfortable talking to an employee about cancer than they do about mental health - the stigma has yet to be properly addressed ” <br />Rowan Myron</p>
<p>Mental Health Foundation <br />In-depth interviews with 30 of the 264 employees studied suggested they found it harder to tell their managers about their depression than their original illness.</p>
<p>Some three quarters of people who had been on leave with a mental health condition reported symptoms of continuing depression.</p>
<p>The research indicated that they were less likely to see well constructed return to work schemes than their physically ill counterparts. <br />This was despite the fact that their illness was much more likely to have been work related in the first place.</p>
<p>Cutting down</p>
<p>Researchers said they did find evidence of good practice, in particular where "case conferences" were held to discuss the return to work with employee, manager and an occupational health specialist. <br />“ Many people want to support their staff with mental health problems, but are not sure how best to. ” <br />Susan Scott-Parker</p>
<p>Employers' Forum on Disability</p>
<p>Shorter working hours and fewer tasks were among the key working aspects reported to be beneficial to the employee's mental health.</p>
<p>Support from colleagues was also found to be instrumental, and the report recommends employers provide mental health training to staff to help improve understanding of the issues.</p>
<p>"It's understandable that people still feel more comfortable talking to an employee about cancer than they do about mental health - the stigma has yet to be properly addressed," says Rowan Myron, Associate Head of Research at the Mental Health Foundation.</p>
<p>"But employers really do need to take this on board. The recession means more than ever, companies need to make sure they are getting the best out of their staff - so now is really not the time to sideline these efforts." <br />Susan Scott-Parker, the head of the Employers’ Forum on Disability agreed that the research made "good business sense for employers to get it right when staff return to work after a period of ill health and experience mental distress.</p>
<p>"Our own research into the experiences of line managers found that many people want to support their staff with mental health problems, but are not sure how best to. <br />"Best practice on mental health at work is often about common sense principles like giving managers mental health awareness training and using cost-free, good management techniques.</p>
<p>"Above all, adjustments need to have the support of both employees and employers to be a success." <br />Marjorie Wallace of the mental health charity Sane said: "There is often a conspiracy of silence surrounding mental illness in the workplace – to the detriment of both employees and employers.</p>
<p>"What we need is for everyone to combine forces to make returning to work easier, rather than risk frightening people who make this transition following a physical or mental illness. <br />"To do this, we should listen to employees and employers to find out their views and what support they will need."</p>