Mental Health Discrimination at Work: Understand Your Rights and Take Action

If your mental health condition has a long-term effect on your ability to carry out daily tasks, it may legally be classed as a disability. The effect must be substantial (more than minor or trivial). It must also be long-term. Generally that means lasting, or likely to last, at least 12 months. If you satisfy that definition, that means you are protected under the Equality Act 2010 against discrimination at work. Your employer needs to know about your disability for them to have discriminated against you.

Unfortunately, many people with conditions like anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder or PTSD face unfair treatment from their employers. This might include being dismissed, disciplined, or ignored when asking for support.

Here are the four main types of discrimination related to mental health:

Direct discrimination

You are treated worse than someone else because of your mental health condition.

Example: You are dismissed after revealing you have depression, even though your performance was strong.

Indirect discrimination

A workplace policy applies to everyone, but it puts people with mental health conditions at a disadvantage.

Example: A requirement to work long unpredictable shifts without notice may negatively affect those with anxiety.

Harassment

You are subjected to unwanted comments or behaviour that relate to your mental health and make you feel offended, intimidated or degraded.

Example: A colleague makes repeated jokes about your therapy appointments or medication.

Victimisation

You are treated badly because you complained about discrimination or helped someone else complain.

Example: After raising a grievance about a manager’s comments on your mental health, you are left out of meetings or denied opportunities.

Failure to make reasonable adjustments

Your employer fails to take reasonable steps to remove or reduce disadvantages you face due to your mental health.

Example: You ask for a quieter workspace or noise-cancelling headphones because you are suffering panic attacks due to your anxiety which is exacerbated by the noisy environment. If your employer refuses and does not have a good reason to do so, then this would be a failure to make reasonable adjustments.

Discrimination arising from disability

You are treated unfavourably due to something arising from your disability, rather than the disability itself, and that treatment cannot be justified.

Example: You are dismissed because you have a visual impairment and cannot do as much work as a non-disabled colleague. If the employer sought to justify the dismissal, they would need to show that it was a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.

Understanding what counts as discrimination is the first step toward taking action. Valla helps you organise your case and challenge unfair treatment with the right legal tools and support.