A new survey published by the CIPD and conducted by MetLife shows that 53% of HR staff have provided counselling to employees in the past two years.

The study also shows that 67% of HR professionals surveyed by MetLife said mental health issues are a major issue in their workplace. The number of HR professionals who had provided mental health and stress counselling to employees during the past two years was found to be more than double the number who had had to resolve a workplace dispute.

Furthermore, 76% said they were surprised by the personal and private information staff tell them, while 22% said they had provided marriage and relationship counselling to employees.

More than 200 HR directors, managers and assistants were surveyed for the study.

"It shouldn't be HR's job to provide mental health and stress counselling – it really is a specialist area – but it has an important role to play in developing an appropriate supportive framework,” Rachel Suff, employment relations adviser at the CIPD, said. “A really important part of that is training for line managers to understand what mental health means. If they are not trained it can be really stressful for them to have those conversations and spot issues."

“It is important that HR professionals and line managers work hard to create a culture conducive to promoting wellbeing, as well as tackling the work-related causes of mental health problems and supporting staff experiencing mental health problems,” Emma Mamo, head of workplace wellbeing at mental health charity Mind, said. “Staff working for employers that take this issue seriously are less likely to become unwell."