Employee mental health charter launched by industry leaders

October 18, 2021 by Brendan O'Neill

Mortgage Advisors

A number of leading names within the mortgage sector have joined forces to put together a charter aimed at enabling companies to safeguard their employees’ mental health.

The companies behind this include the brokers Chartwell Mortgage Services, Coreco and The Brightstar Group, in addition to SimplyBiz Mortgages, the Knowledge Bank software firm and Crystal Specialist Finance, a mortgage distributor. The charter they have created uses research titled ‘Thriving at Work’, which the government issued four years ago, and it has been set up on a not-for-profit basis.

The government research at the heart of it is intended to help companies identify signs of, and prevent, mental health problems exacerbated by work stress. The new charter sets out a number of commitments, including the use of relevant activities to raise awareness of mental health issues among employees and the provision of working conditions that allow space for development, along with a balance between work and home life.

Speaking to FT Adviser, Jason Berry from Crystal Specialist Finance said:

“There is a lot of work for all of us across the mortgage industry to do in order to provide more substantial support to the mental health and wellbeing of our colleagues.”

Those behind it are hoping to get as many firms as possible to sign up to the charter and to learn about the best ways of approaching mental health issues.

This is as important as the CeMAP qualification to mortgage advisors, as good mental health is vital to delivering the best service.