By pledging to become a Shine workplace, your organisation is making a commitment to completing the six steps of the workplace programme.

To receive a programme certificate, organisations must complete an action plan and progress through each of the six-steps.

The action plan is a statement of the organisation’s intent to work towards creating an open culture around mental health in the workplace and to reduce the stigma associated with mental health problems.

Our Six-Step Workplace Pledge Programme consists of the following steps:

Managerial Level (Address the needs of the organisation at managerial level)

1. Train management: HR, senior leadership and line managers take part in our workshops exploring the topic of mental health and stigma
2. Develop a mental health policy: Develop a mental health policy and implement it across the organisation.

Staff-wide (Embed an open culture towards mental health across your organisation)

3. Train & inform staff: Host training & events for mental health awareness, Green Ribbon campaign, wellness workshops, and Shine Ambassador talks
4. Empower staff champions: Nominate, train and support staff champions to promote wellness and challenge stigma in the workplace.

Public engagement (Make it official that you are a Shine Green Ribbon workplace)

5. Engage your network: Encourage everyone across your organisation to promote mental health awareness with your external network
6. Earn your certificate: Your organisation will then become an accredited workplace with your name and logo displayed on our organisation’s website, and your own digital assets to use to tell others about your achievement.

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See here Shine Workplace Programme FAQs.

for more information about the Shine Workplace Programme
email: WorkplaceContractor@shine.ie

We have developed resources to support this programme. To check them out visit our publications page here.

Within your own organisation: Contact your organisation’s HR or Occupational Health department to get information on internal supports available such as Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) which can provide confidential support on a number of items such as financial, family, health and legal matters.

For immediate support please call Samaritans’ 24-hour helpline: 116123

Getting support from your employer:

If you are finding work stressful or are having difficulties due to a mental health challenge, then your employer should be able to offer you support. Under equality legislation, employers are obliged to take appropriate measures so that employees who have a disability, including people with experience of a mental health problem, can access, participate and advance in employment.

Examples of reasonable accommodation:

·      Adjusting working hours.

·      Adjusting tasks.

·      Providing time off to attend counselling/medical appointments.

·      Phased return to work after someone has been on sick leave.

All measures should be taken in consultation with the employee and should be reasonable for the organisation.

You can find more information in the downloadable PDF leaflet ‘Equality and mental health: how the law can help you’

What a manager can do to support someone who may be experiencing a mental health problem:

• Take time to talk to the person privately: Ask them if something is wrong but take your steer from them.
• Be honest in assessing the employee’s recent performance.
• Don’t make assumptions on what someone can and can’t do.
• Ask the person what would help them at work: Find out what reasonable accommodation means and what the law says.
• Treat them with respect (in the language you use and the attention you give to them) and act as a model to encourage other colleagues to do the same.
• Be aware that changes, restructuring or the risk of redundancy can be particularly difficult for some employees.
• Suggest that the individual asks for advice from their occupational health advisor or contact any support services the organisation uses i.e the company’s Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).
• Keep the dialogue going (even if a person is on sick leave).