Alarming Trends Facing Australian Small Business
Mental health-related absences are rising sharply across Australian workplaces – but it’s small businesses that are feeling the impact most acutely. According to a recent Peninsula Australia study surveying over 30,000 employers globally, Australian SMEs are experiencing the highest increase in mental health-related sick leave worldwide, with 33% of employers reporting a rise over the past year.
Despite growing awareness of the importance of psychological wellbeing, less than 50% of Australian SMEs currently offer an Employee Assistance Program (EAP). For many small business owners, the assumption is that EAPs are expensive, complex, or unnecessary for smaller teams. In reality, lack of access often comes down to uncertainty about cost, relevance, or how to get started.
Even among those SMEs that do provide an EAP, a significant challenge remains: very few employees are actually using it. Engagement with EAP services is typically low across the board, and small businesses are no exception.
As a specialist SME EAP provider, we’ve found three key reasons why staff often resist reaching out for help:
Concerns about confidentiality
Stigma or cultural hesitation around help-seeking
Lack of awareness or understanding about the service
In this article, we explore these reasons in greater detail and share our practical approach to turning these barriers into opportunities. Whether or not you already have an EAP in place, we’ll offer simple, actionable steps you can take as a leader, HR manager, or business owner to make EAP access feel safe, normal, and genuinely helpful for your team.
Because when EAPs are well-communicated and culturally supported, the benefits ripple throughout the entire organisation. Employees feel seen and supported, managers are better equipped to handle tough conversations, and businesses see improvements in resilience, retention, and performance.
Firstly, what’s driving the sharp uptick in mental health-related absences?
Several converging factors appear to be at play. Economic uncertainty, cost-of-living pressures, and the post-pandemic reshaping of work-life boundaries have left many employees feeling increasingly overwhelmed. For SME workers – who often operate in leaner teams without the safety nets of larger organisations – stress can accumulate quickly, and time off becomes the only option for relief.
At the same time, business owners and managers are under pressure too. They’re juggling rising demands with fewer resources and may feel ill-equipped to support employees facing mental health challenges. Without clear frameworks, support systems, or professional guidance, many are left to manage growing psychological distress on the fly.
The result? Reduced productivity and a workplace culture that quietly suffers beneath the surface.
The EAP Gap: Awareness ≠ Access
While mental health is no longer a taboo topic in most workplaces, only 39% of Australian SMEs currently offer an Employee Assistance Program (EAP). That means a large portion of the workforce is still without a structured pathway to professional support when things get tough.
And among the SMEs who do have an EAP in place, many are seeing minimal uptake. National averages sit stubbornly low – around 5% utilisation across large organisations—while engagement among small businesses often struggles to gain momentum at all.
“With 76% of employers not confident their staff would feel safe speaking up about mental health, there is still a culture of silence we need to break.” Frost
So let’s look at what’s getting in the way?
1. Concerns About Confidentiality
In a smaller workplace, where “everyone knows everyone,” employees often worry that accessing support will somehow be traced back to them. This fear can be heightened in tight-knit teams where boundaries between personal and professional relationships are blurred. Even when EAPs are outsourced to independent providers, the concern remains: Will my manager find out? Will this affect how I’m perceived? Without strong and repeated messaging from leadership about confidentiality protocols – and trust in how that message is delivered – employees may avoid reaching out altogether.
Handy Tip: Clear communication and visible modelling from leaders are essential to break through this fear.
2. Stigma or Cultural Hesitation Around Help-Seeking
Despite growing mental health awareness, stigma is still a powerful force – especially in fast-paced, high-performance, or male-dominated work cultures. Some employees see asking for help as a sign of weakness or fear being seen as “not coping”. This is particularly true in SMEs where informal workplace cultures and traditional attitudes can linger. Cultural backgrounds also influence openness to seeking psychological support.
Handy Tip: Prioritise normalised, everyday conversations about mental wellbeing in the workplace, to challenge these internalised beliefs. This will ensure people reach out for support rather than waiting until they’re in crisis.
3. Lack of Awareness or Understanding About the Service
Many employees simply don’t know what their EAP offers or how it works. They may assume it’s only for “serious problems”, not realising it can also help with day-to-day stress, relationships, financial concerns, or even parenting advice. Others might not understand how to access it, or fear they’ll be stuck in long waiting lists. Often, EAPs are only mentioned at induction or buried in a staff handbook and quickly fade from memory.
Handy Tip: Circulate consistent reminders, proactive education, and personalising the service to suit the SME context are crucial to ensuring the program is seen as approachable, relevant, and easy to use.
Final Word: Make Access Safe, Realistic, and Human
Here’s the good news:
You don’t need to be a big corporation to provide meaningful support. We purposely designed our EAP so it’s more affordable and accessible for SMEs than ever before – and with the right provider, you can tailor them to suit your business size, budget, and values. Get more information on our EAP…
Even better: a great way to overcome barriers to staff accessing EAP is by equipping leaders and teams with simple, supportive conversation scripts that:
Normalise help-seeking behaviour
Reassure employees of confidentiality
Clearly explain how to access the EAP
Demonstrate care without overstepping
It’s these everyday conversations – between teammates, managers, and leaders – that become the turning point for someone who’s struggling.
Get A Better Way Forward
Mental health-related absences are more than just a statistic – they’re a signal that employees need better support, and small businesses need practical solutions. While EAPs have traditionally been viewed as a benefit reserved for large corporations, that’s no longer the case.
At Get Mentally Fit, we’ve worked with small business owners and leaders who genuinely want to safeguard everyone but aren’t sure where to begin. Whether you don’t yet have an EAP in place, or you’re struggling to engage your team with the service you already offer, we can help.
Get in touch with our team to start a conversation – and take a proactive step toward a healthier, more resilient workplace.
Let’s make EAP work for you and your team.
