Three in four people experience symptoms of poor mental health. On World Mental Health day, employers say it pays to support staff wellbeing

It was James Routledges own battle with anxiety while winding down his first startup that led him to launch Sanctus. He was also experiencing stress, panic attacks and sleepless nights, but didnt feel he could confide in his new colleagues. I didnt talk about it, I didnt want to admit weakness or vulnerability, he says.

Through Sanctus, Routledge offers coaching sessions to businesses to help them improve their approach to mental health. In a small business environment, he says its the founders who must set the precedent. Create a culture where vulnerability is accepted and its OK for people to say: Im not feeling so good, this didnt go so well or Im feeling a little bit stressed. Mental health is not only about the darkness and depression, thats like only talking about obesity and disease in physical health.

A report from Business in the Community (BITC) found that mental health is still shrouded in a culture of silence and stigma in UK workplaces. Of the 20,000 people surveyed, three in four said they had experienced symptoms of poor mental health at some point in their lives.

At that scale, the impact on business is, unsurprisingly, significant: the estimated total cost to employers is 26bn per year, according to the Centre for Mental Health. But its research shows that 8bn of that could be saved by employers taking simple steps to manage mental health in the workplace.

The BITC report reveals a clear discrepancy between how workers and business leaders think the issue is handled: 60% of board members felt their organisation dealt well with mental health, but only 11% of workers had recently discussed mental health with their line manager. So why are employees keeping their difficulties hidden?

I think theres a perception that someone with mental health issues is weak and that they will use it to not work, says Natalie Weaving, director at digital marketing agency, The Typeface Group. Weaving heads up a small team of three employees and three contractors. Among them is copywriter Shannon Valentine, who is 20. Valentine has mental health conditions including anxiety, depression and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), but, unlike many others, she regularly talks to her boss about her mental health.

Valentine told Weaving about her mental health conditions after a few weeks in the job. Valentine was coming off antidepressants and was experiencing physical side effects. She says that Weaving noticed and guessed the cause. I have a tendency to worry about silly things, which she noticed too, Valentine says. Now she feels comfortable discussing it in the office and says practical changes, such as flexible hours, are a great help.

Today, if Valentine is going through a rough patch, she and Weaving agree on one of her preferred coping mechanisms, whether thats taking the day off and making up the time at a later date, or simply going for a walk. Working with Shannon has really opened our eyes, Weaving adds.

It should be noted that under the Equality Act 2010, employers cant ask a candidate about their health until they have offered them a job. However, managers need to be open about mental health if they are to effectively support staff, says Madeleine McGivern, head of workplace wellbeing programmes at mental health charity Mind. When someone starts in a role [its a good idea to have] a conversation about what keeps them well at work and what signs to look out for if theyre doing less well, so that people can step in early [to help].

Encouraging all staff to talk about their mental health works well for Stuart Gray. He owns four small businesses based in Warwick, including Portus Consulting, all of which are in the employee benefits industry. The number of staff in his businesses range from 12 to 45. During regular one-to-one meetings, line managers in Grays businesses ask staff how stressed work is making them feel on a scale of one to 10.

Its about trying to get them to open up, Gray adds. If a staff member feels stressed at a level of seven or above then the manager will try to get to the bottom of why that is and see if their workload needs to be lightened.

Additionally, Grays management team aims to pick up any clues that an employee might be experiencing mental health difficulties, from a lack of engagement to a long-term change in mood. His line managers have taken part in training to help them spot mental health conditions in staff.

Developing this awareness helped Grays managers identify that a senior member of staff had depression. They were quite emotional on occasion, particularly if it was a really busy day and there was pressure on a deadline. My CEO explored the situation and it wasnt work that was the problem, it was stuff that was happening outside that was affecting their ability to work effectively and cope with that. Due to the size of the business, and an insurance policy that covers days lost to ill health, Gray was able to support the staff member with around three weeks of paid leave. He adds that all company projects are a team effort, and other staff were able to pick up the work that was left behind.

McGivern says that providing support doesnt need to be costly. Its most important that theres a culture of communication, she says. She does suggest investing in training for staff, through programmes such as Mental Health First Aid (for which course costs can range from 77 to 300 per person) to teach people how to identify, understand and help a person who may be developing a mental health issue.

Simple adjustments to workplace culture such as approving flexible hours, making sure staff take their breaks and encouraging them to get involved in decision-making and planning their own workload as much as possible can all help better support the team, no matter the size of the organisation. You dont need to have an HR department to support someone with a mental health issue, but you do need to have line managers who are aware of mental health problems, McGivern adds.

Its a bit of a misnomer that people who have mental health problems cant function in fast-paced or stressful environments. In fact, a lot of people, with or without mental health problems, thrive in those environments because small amounts of stress can heighten our performance. Its just about giving people support.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2016/oct/10/mental-health-not-only-about-darkness-depression

India is hosting the first Kabaddi World Cup for nine years, and a once quaint pastime a mix of red rover, wrestling and tag is getting a makeover

Although still largely unknown outside of South Asia, kabaddi is an ancient Indian sport in the midst of a resurgence on the subcontinent. Outdating more dominant (and imported) sporting traditions like cricket and field hockey, kabaddi a mix of red rover, wrestling, and tag was long considered a pursuit of the underclasses, a dusty, pre-modern relic devoid of the glitz, spectacle, and revenue of sophisticated, contemporary sport. With the launch of the Pro Kabaddi League in 2014, a venture backed by regional media behemoth Star Sports, the once provincial and quaint pastime has been souped up with stylishly marketed franchises, celebrity owners, revamped rules, and pumped full of cash to the tune of almost 200 million viewers in almost 100 countries.

The Kabaddi World Cup kicked off in Ahmedabad this weekend, at the TransStadia Arena, where the paint is still drying. It will be the first time in the sports (alleged) 4,000-year history that so many international eyes fall upon the simultaneously primal and novel sight of kabaddis robust frames lunging, evading, bashing into, and diving upon one another in search of points. Teams from 12 countries India, Iran, Bangladesh, Thailand, the United States, Australia, Japan, South Korea, England, Poland, Kenya, and Argentina are competing in the first edition of the Kabaddi World Cup in nine years, and the first since its revolution into a modern sporting enterprise.

Two years back, when the PKL started, kabaddi was non-existent on TV, says Star Sports commentator Sunil Taneja. After four [bi-annual] seasons, Its become a super-duper hit, and the ratings keep going up. This is the seventh or eighth sport Ive worked on, but the response Ive seen for kabaddi is unlike anything Ive ever seen. The atmosphere in Ahmedabad right now is very, very good. People are really crazy, lining up to buy tickets. There are posters all over the city, and all of the newspapers are covering it with curious enthusiasm.

A big part of what makes kabaddi appealing to new fans is the sheer simplicity of the game. Sides are broken down into raiders and blockers. To score a point, a raider must enter opposition territory, tag an opponent with any part of his body, and make it back into his sides safety zone without being tackled to the ground. If he is caught, he is temporarily eliminated from proceedings and his team drops a point. Its simple. Its visceral. And its fun. Even if you dont understand the finer details, you can enjoy the raw physicality of a team-based, contact sport with no ball and few rules.

Driven by the Pro Kabaddi Leagues aggressive marketing and distribution, there are already stars emerging in this brand new landscape of world kabaddi. None more so than Captain Cool Anup Kumar, two-time Asian Games gold medalist, Pro Kabaddi League most valuable player with the title-winning U Mumba, and captain of the Indian national team. His face is plastered on billboards and buses all over Ahmedabad, and expectations are that India will steamroll their way to the trophy for the third time in as many attempts. The only worthy opposition right now seems to be Iran, with its PKL talent, and perhaps Bangladesh, says Malay Desai, journalist for Indian sports media outlet FirstPost embedded in Ahmedabad for the cup. I wont be surprised if India games turn out to be one-sided.

In contrast, team members from less established nations like the US, Poland, and Kenya, are ragtag units of novices, part-timers, and transplants from other sports. The UK contingent at the World Cup is comprised of university students from the likes of London School of Economics and Imperial College London; young south Asians, Caribbeans, and Brits who practice in disused basements in between classes. The Australian team is made up of mostly retired Aussie Rules football players, one of whom is a well known broadcast commentator down under, and the Argentinean team only played their first competitive match two weeks ago.

The United States contingent was entirely unknown both home and abroad until they stepped off the plane in India, only a day before their opening fixture against tournament heavyweights Iran on Friday. Captained by the dreadlocked Troy Bacon, the team is comprised of bodybuilders, rappers, and aspiring media entrepreneurs, most of whom are graduates of Florida A&M in Tallahassee, one of the largest traditionally black universities in the United States. As videos of the squad chanting USA! USA! hit Instagram yesterday, it was immediately clear that kabaddis revolution from dusty provincial pastime to international media spectacle is well under way, and that the US team will not remain anonymous for long.

US team members Denmar Pharoh D McKie, and Ronnie Eriic Fields both have careers as rappers, while Kevin Caldwell writes the phrase hustle on the back of his shirts. Members personal social media accounts suggest theyre as surprised to be heading to India as the kabaddi world-at-large was to welcome them as they emerged from customs at the airport. But although the United States team is bursting with character, its members are lacking in experience. In its World Cup debut during the tournaments opening salvo on Friday, the US was hammered 52-15 by heavyweights Iran. Led by their imposing captain and PKL star Meraj Sheykh, Iran were far too strong for a team whose members werent even playing the sport more than a few months ago.

Similar to the effect on the IPLs Twenty20 format has had on Test cricket, implicit in the success of PKL-style rule kabaddi is the marginalization of the many other variants of the game played all over the world. In Pakistan, the UK, the US and Canada, circle-style kabaddi, played outside on larger fields, is supported by grassroots community held together by the desi diaspora. Instead of dipping into the talent pool of what they see as a competing format, the IKF has furnished its own, lesser experienced, rosters for the fledgling contingents at the World Cup with little explanation of the selection process or what the standards for inclusion may be. While the existing, kabaddi-playing communities in the US and beyond may be aggrieved at their exclusion, the makeup of the American contingent at the World Cup presents a new face for stateside kabaddi, one with a greater potential to tap into the mainstream American market than ever before.

That a national-level governing body of sport in India would exercise such dominance on an international level mirrors the Indian Premier Leagues effect on international cricket. The success of the IPL, now a $4bn enterprise after only a decade in existence, has shown the potential of India to dominate and influence a world market. The IPL model must be credited as inspiring the promoters of Pro Kabaddi League, says Indian sports journalist Malay Desai. But cricket and kabaddi are very different beasts. The IPL leveraged the already cricket-mad Indian population to great effect, but with kabaddi, the PKL and the Kabaddi World Cup are seeking to create demand as they create the supply. With this in mind, nothing but an Indian victory will suffice at this World Cup.

The main event in the opening days fixtures on Friday was India v South Korea. As the Indian sports media entered the TransStadia Arena expecting an Indian triumph, South Korea the worlds third ranked team, but comparative minnows stunned the home nation by pipping them to a tight finish, 34-32. At the final whistle, a jubilant brigade of beefy South Koreans in blue and red-striped kits flooded the mat to celebrate, while a stunned stadium full of Indians were reminded of that, despite the best-laid plans of the IKF, the unpredictability of sport can topple even the grandest of ambitions, preparations, and expectations. And thats why we love it.

The Kabaddi World Cup is indicative of the current state of Indian sporting enterprise. Brimming with ambition and potential, the Indian sport-and-media complex is looking to establish world-class domestic institutions after the overwhelming success of the IPL. The ITPL in tennis, the ISL in soccer, and the PKL in kabaddi were all founded in 2014 looking to replicate the IPL model. Kabaddi, however, presents a unique situation as the Indian-led IKF has taken on the mantle of spreading the sport in its own image to the rest of the globe. And although the Indian teams victory and the longevity of the Kabaddi World Cup are as yet uncertain, one thing that is for sure is that the world is finally watching.

• The Kabaddi World Cup runs from 7 October until the final on 22 October

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/10/kabaddi-world-cup-india-resurgence

Image copyright Getty Images

Facebook paid 4.16m in UK corporation tax last year, as it expanded its business in the UK.

It is a big increase on the 4,327 paid in 2014, which prompted an outcry from campaigners who argued it had paid too little.

However, critics may also be riled by the fact that the company will receive a tax credit of 11m, which can be used to offset tax bills at a later date.

The firm said it was “proud” to have grown its business in the UK.

The social network posted taxable profit for the year to 31 December of about 20m, on which it paid tax at the standard corporation tax rate. Turnover more than doubled to 210m.

The tax credit is the result of offsetting payments linked to its bonus scheme for staff.

Facebook said in March it would no longer route advertising sales through Ireland for its largest advertisers.

That change, which took effect on 1 April, should mean the US company starts paying millions of pounds more in tax in the UK.

A spokesperson for Facebook said: “We are proud that in 2015 we have continued to grow our business in the UK and created over 300 new high skilled jobs. We pay all the taxes that we are required to under UK law.”

The figures were revealed in Facebook UK’s accounts, which were published on Companies House on Sunday.

Image copyright Getty Images

Richard Murphy, a chartered accountant and professor of practice in international political economy at City, University of London, said it was difficult to determine whether Facebook was paying the right amount of tax in Britain.

“Facebook’s UK accounts do not represent its real sales in this country, which are actually booked in Ireland with their true value never being disclosed,” he said.

‘Exercise in opacity’

“The Facebook UK accounts just record the costs it incurs in the UK, with a bit of profit added on to keep HMRC happy. That’s not good enough in the current climate.

“Facebook UK’s accounts are an exercise in opacity when what we really need is transparency. If accountants continue to refuse to provide what users of accounts need then it will be time for the government to act.”

Tax specialist Jo Maugham QC said: “Facebook’s accounts are rather opaque. But we can be confident that the structure of its business continues to be driven by the desire to make the smallest possible financial contribution to the public infrastructure it uses.”

Analysis

Theo Leggett, business reporter

When Facebook revealed it had paid just 4,327 in tax in 2014, there was a storm of protest from campaigners. Like other digital era multinationals, it has come under fire for doing a great deal of business here, but paying very little into the national coffers.

2015’s bill looks decidedly steeper, but it still appears to bear little relation to the amount of business actually being done by the company. It is based entirely on revenues from engineering and marketing services supplied to other parts of the Facebook group.

It will be different in future. The company agreed earlier this year to book sales to major UK advertisers in Britain, rather than Ireland – so they will be subject to tax here.

Although this won’t include sales made over the internet, it should still mean a much bigger payment is due for 2016.

That may go some way towards appeasing campaigners – and keeping the UK authorities at arms length.

Facebook employed 682 people in the UK last year, up from 362 in 2014, and the company now has more than 1,000 full-time equivalent staff.

Globally Facebook made profits of $3.7bn in 2015 on revenues of almost $18bn – 44% higher than the previous year.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37600891