Mental health

As investors, we want the companies in which we invest to be successful. A universal problem for companies is how to support and nurture a workforce to protect its mental health.

‘Good health and wellbeing: ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages’; this is the United Nation’s third Sustainable Development Goal (SDG). Although the emphasis is on physical health, the third progress assessment relates to, ‘non-communicable diseases, mental health and environmental risks.’

In England alone, mental ill-health at work is estimated to cost nearly £110 billion each year through staff turnover, presenteeism, economic inactivity and sickness absence. Across Great Britain, 22.1 million working days were lost to work-related stress, depression and anxiety in 2024/2025.

We believe that the stark human and economic costs associated with poor mental health represent a substantial obstacle to companies’ success. Put simply, employers are losing billions of pounds because employees are less productive, off sick or leaving work all together.

The good news is that with committed leaders and thoughtful programmes, the cost to employers of poor workplace mental health can be mitigated. 

With the support of Chronos Sustainability, and an Expert Advisory Panel including Paul Farmer (former CEO of the charity Mind), Lord Dennis Stevenson, the Principles for Responsible Investment and others, CCLA built a set of assessment criteria. In Q1 2022, we used these criteria to evaluate and score the 100 largest UK-listed companies with more than 10,000 employees on their public disclosures. On 26 May 2022, the CCLA Corporate Mental Health Benchmark UK 100 was launched. We didn’t stop there, on 10 October 2022, we launched the CCLA Corporate Mental Health Benchmark Global 100. We now launch a UK and global benchmark annually. You can read our latest benchmark below. 

Our award winning corporate mental health benchmarks are the culmination of sustained collaboration with workplace mental health experts, data providers, charities and UK-listed and global companies. 

The benchmarks are now starting to serve as an important engagement tool and accountability mechanism for a growing global coalition of investors and asset owners. As of 31 December 2025, we have a coalition of 55 investors representing $10 trillion of assets. 

Click here to see previous benchmarks. 

Business concern around workplace mental health is growing, thanks not only to a growing body of evidence on the financial costs associated with poor health, but also greater awareness by the public and investors. The CCLA Corporate Mental Health Benchmarks provide a window into how more than 200 of the world's largest listed companies approach and manage workplace mental health, based on their published information.

Fully integrating mental health into business strategies and reporting cycles takes time and each company is at a different stage in its own journey. Where disclosure on workplace mental health is absent, investors are unable to assess the effectiveness of a company’s management controls or its performance relative to peers. The results of the CCLA Corporate Mental Health Benchmarks show that while encouraging progress is being made, there is much work still to be done.

Few would disagree that companies have a moral duty to provide their workers with a psychologically safe place of work. Watch Elizabeth Sheldon, COO, and Amy Browne, Stewardship Lead, explain why investors should be concerned about mental health.

• The UK benchmark continues to drive improvements in company performance, although progress is beginning to slow.
• Companies are responding to the benchmark criteria, with distinct patterns of progress emerging over time.
• Performance across all assessment pillars has improved, although progress remains uneven.
• Performance has improved across almost all benchmark criteria, with some criteria more strongly linked to overall success.

We encourage all listed companies – regardless of size, location or sector – to reflect on the findings in this report and take meaningful action to strengthen workplace mental health. In particular, we recommend that companies:

• Demonstrate a leadership commitment to mental health at the highest level. Publish a clear statement from the CEO setting out the company’s commitment to workplace mental health and its strategic importance.
• Develop and publish a robust workplace mental health policy. Ensure the policy has a clearly defined scope (covering all workers and geographies), supported by detailed implementation plans, governance arrangements and accountability mechanisms.
• Set measurable mental health objectives and report on progress. Establish clear mental health targets or performance indicators and disclose progress regularly to demonstrate accountability and impact.
• Promote good work practices that support mental wellbeing. Provide fair pay and secure, supportive working conditions, while prioritising flexibility, open dialogue, career development opportunities and appropriate role adjustments.

We hope that the findings and recommendations in our benchmarks will act as a guiding framework for companies; to help strengthen their management approaches and sustain a structural focus on workplace mental health.

As investors, we believe that workplace mental health is potentially material to long-term value creation. This benchmark is an essential step towards a better understanding of the relative performance of companies on workplace mental health. It offers a clear framework around which businesses can structure their management and disclosures, and it provides investors with an objective evaluation and engagement tool.

We are committed to the following.

1. Repeat the UK 100 and Global 100+ corporate mental health benchmarks in 2025

We will conduct the fourth iteration of the UK 100 and Global 100+ benchmarks in 2025. We expect to cover similar scopes of companies and broadly use the same methodology as in 2024 to allow for year-on-year comparison.

We will write to all companies in early 2025 to confirm their inclusion in the 2025 benchmark cycle. We will share with them the benchmark criteria and the timeline for the company assessments and publication of the report.

2. Continue to build investor support for the global investor statement on workplace mental health

In June 2022, we started to build support for the global investor statement on workplace mental health. The statement outlines what investors expect of companies to ensure that business performance is optimised, through both a healthy and productive workforce and the elimination of unnecessary costs associated with poor mental health. It calls on investors to encourage companies to develop and implement effective management systems and processes on workplace mental health, and to report annually on their workplace mental health strategies and performance.

We will continue to build this coalition.