How the self-check works
The self-check looks at the organization, not at any individual. Read each statement and choose how fully it describes your workplace today: not in place, just starting, partly in place, firmly in place. Answer for the organization as a whole, or for the site or department you are responsible for. It works best when two or three people – say, someone from HR, a line manager and an employee representative – answer separately and then compare.
Each area is scored out of 100. Below 40 suggests the basics are not yet in place; 40 to 74 means there is something to build on; 75 and above means the area is established and the job is to keep it that way. Your results link straight to the matching section of the key areas page, and every recommended action has supporting material on the resources page.
This is a starting point for a conversation, not a validated survey instrument or a clinical tool. For a fuller picture, follow it with an anonymous employee survey – our guide to running a workplace mental health assessment walks through the process.
All sixteen statements
Prefer to work on paper or in a meeting? Here is the full list, grouped by area.
01 · Awareness & stigma
- Leaders and managers talk about mental health in the same matter-of-fact way they talk about physical health and safety.Tone from the top is the fastest way to make the topic ordinary.
- Employees know the early signs that a colleague may be struggling, and what to say or do next.Most people who get help are nudged there by someone they work with.
- We share useful mental health information several times a year, not only during awareness months.Steady repetition beats a single campaign.
- We have anonymous data (surveys, benefits use, absence trends) showing how mental health affects our workforce.Without a baseline you cannot tell whether anything improved.
02 · Culture & climate
- Workloads, deadlines and staffing levels are reviewed with wellbeing in mind, not only output.Work design is the root cause behind much work-related stress.
- Managers are trained to hold supportive conversations and to respond to accommodation requests.Managers are where policy meets the employee.
- People can disagree, raise concerns or admit mistakes without fear of punishment or embarrassment.Psychological safety is the soil everything else grows in.
- Policies on flexibility, leave and return to work are written down, easy to find and applied consistently.Unwritten rules are applied unevenly, and people notice.
03 · Access to care & support
- Our health plan gives timely access to in-network mental health and substance use care.Coverage on paper means little if no provider can see you for months.
- Employees know how to reach the EAP or other support and trust that it is confidential.Awareness and trust are the two biggest barriers to EAP use.
- Support is available in more than one format (phone, video, text, in person) and outside office hours.Shift workers and remote staff need options that fit their day.
- We review benefits use and employee feedback every year and change what is not working.Benefits drift out of date unless someone checks them.
04 · Leadership commitment
- A named senior leader is accountable for workplace mental health and has time and budget to act.What nobody owns, nobody delivers.
- Mental health appears in our strategy, objectives or health and safety plans, with measurable goals.Goals turn intention into something that gets reviewed.
- Leaders model healthy behavior: they take leave, respect off-hours and speak openly where comfortable.Employees copy what leaders do, not what they say.
- We tell employees what we learned from surveys and what we are changing as a result.Closing the loop is what keeps people answering honestly.