'We suffer from all the same issues and anxieties that everyone else goes through – but we have to be the last man standing'

Ahead of World Mental Health Day, The Staff Canteen editor, Cara Houchen, spoke to Aktar Islam about the pressure on employers and the consequences that has on their mental health and wellbeing.

Last week we reported on a tribunal between Aktar Islam and his former employee Sara Cowie - I won’t go back over what was already detailed, the main point was Aktar won his case after three years but it cost him over £50k of his own money as ‘you can’t claim for costs, you just get to walk away with your name intact’.

What really stood out for me wasn’t the obvious financial impact but the impact on his mental health. Over the past 18 months we’ve talked a lot about improving the wellbeing of staff, allowing them to feel they can talk about anything which may be affecting their mental health and dedicating money and resources to make hospitality an industry which is changing for the better.

But what about the business owners or employers? Who do they talk to when they need help or are under pressure or stress?

“As business owners the only people we have to talk to is ourselves,” explained Aktar. “Every which way we are getting hammered – hammered by the government, staff shortages, the general culture within the industry.

“There’s no respite, we are constantly pushed and pushed and pushed. Not all of us are high street chains, I’m an independent business owner and I have no one to turn to. All we get is pressure and there is no support for the employer, no appreciation or understanding for our mental wellbeing.”

Aktar says that even when he goes to sleep at night, he is still thinking about payroll, all the invoices, all the tax implications, maintenance costs, thinking about paying the landlord and suppliers.

“I wake up thinking about all that too. That’s basically my life, even when I’m with my son on a Sunday and trying to enjoy time with him I’m dreading my phone is going to ring because something has happened and there’s a problem.”

As a business owner Aktar is dealing with an ever-changing landscape, he explains that he has to worry about the pressures on the business with cost of produce at record highs, energy prices going up four fold and VAT going back up and he ‘can’t keep pulling rabbits out of hats’.

"It’s left to me to find solutions, like all other business owners who right now are going through pressures that we’ve never had to deal with at such levels and all together.

“There’s all this unrelenting pressure on you with no one saying, how can we help? Let’s discuss this and let’s get around this; it’s a lonely path. We are people too. We’ve got a lot of stress we have to deal with and for some reason it’s totally discounted. It’s like we’ve signed away our right to good mental health – as an employer these days it feels like you are there to service everyone else but what about us as human beings?

“We hear a lot about employees being exploited but we seldom hear about employers being exploited. Everyone knows it happens, but it is never brought to the forefront.

“When was the last time you read an article about the mental health and wellbeing of employers? They shoulder a massive burden and it’s like we don’t count. We suffer from all the same issues and anxieties that everyone else goes through – but we have to be the last man standing; we have no choice,but you do it to safeguard everyone else. In the end it does weigh on your mind, are you not a valued member of society anymore?”

ACAS

Aktar is looking to build a campaign for change after his experience with ACAS (The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) and the tribunal system, he feels it is ‘unfair and poorly managed’.

“Of course, it is there to help people who have been treated badly and discriminated against by employers, that does happen, and I don’t disagree with that. But there should be mechanisms in place to fully assess malicious claims. As proven by my own experience, it’s too easy for the system to be manipulated and exploited”

Reputation

It was his reputation being questioned which really took its toll on Aktar, the situation around the tribunal led to people asking him about it and he felt he had to sit and protest his innocence.

“This is what I’ve had to endure for three years. I’m a principled man, I’m not going to have someone say something about me which is untrue.

“It was proven beyond any doubt that I’m not guilty but I still find myself thinking about what happened, how someone could do that to me and by someone who is known to me as well. It makes you think what people see you as. Am I just someone to be exploited