SafeTalk guide
HR, manager or occupational health: who should you talk to?
Choose the right first workplace contact for a mental health conversation: manager, HR, occupational health, representative, or clinician.
- About 5 minutes
- Free
- Personalised guidance by email
What changes the answer
Manager
Useful for priorities, workload, communication, scheduling, and practical team arrangements when trust is reasonable.
HR or occupational health
Useful for formal accommodations, policy, documentation, leave, confidentiality questions, and complex cases.
Independent support
A union representative, advocate, clinician, or trusted adviser can help when the internal route feels unsafe or unclear.
Match the contact to the decision they can make
A supportive person is helpful, but they also need the authority or expertise to move the request forward. Ask who owns the relevant decision and what information they require.
If you have had a difficult experience with HR or your manager, prepare another route before repeating the same approach. That may include written questions, a representative, occupational health, or external advice.
Ask how information will travel
Before sharing sensitive detail, ask who will receive the information, whether notes will be kept, and what must be shared to implement a change. This is especially important when several internal teams are involved.
SafeTalk
Turn this guidance into a decision
General advice cannot see your manager, employment context, support, timing, or previous HR experiences. SafeTalk uses those factors to help you prepare a next step.
Assess my situationA private, 5-minute questionnaire to help you decide what to do next.
Questions people often ask
Can I speak to HR without telling my manager first?
Often you can ask HR about process or confidentiality, but practices vary. Ask what will remain advisory and what would trigger manager involvement.
What if there is no occupational health service?
You can ask HR what equivalent support exists and consider guidance from a clinician, representative, official agency, or qualified adviser.