Social inequalities in mental health disorders have been demonstrated, with the most disadvantaged social groups being at the highest risk for these disorders. However, these inequalities are not always observed, and results may vary depending on the mental health disorder and the indicator of social status studied. This study aims to explore the association between social status (educational level and occupation) and certain mental health disorders (psychological distress as measured by the GHQ-28 scale and its four subscales, depressive, anxiety, somatic symptoms, and social dysfunction; psychotropic medication use; excessive alcohol consumption; and smoking status) in the Samotrace sample comprising 6,056 employees from the Centre, Pays-de-Loire, and Poitou-Charentes regions. The social differences observed for depressive symptoms and psychotropic medication use—for which employees with the lowest educational attainment and manual workers had the highest prevalences—do not persist after adjusting for age and so-called classic risk factors for mental health disorders (family situation, social support, life events, family history of depression). The strong social gradients observed for smoking status persist after adjustment. Inverse social gradients persist after adjustment for certain markers of mental health: employees with the highest levels of education and managers are at the highest risk for psychological distress, particularly anxiety symptoms, somatic symptoms, and social dysfunction, especially among men. This study suggests that the classic risk factors for mental health disorders are unevenly distributed according to social position and that they may help explain, at least in part, social inequalities in depressive symptoms and the use of psychotropic medications.