Mental Health Adjustments

What are reasonable adjustments for mental health?

Reasonable adjustments are changes an employer makes to remove or reduce a disadvantage related to someone's disability.
Some people might not recognise their mental health condition as a disability, but it's important that employers are aware that it could be. Disability is defined as a mental or physical impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person's ability to carry out day-to-day activities.
Employers must make reasonable adjustments for:

• workers
• contractors and self-employed people hired to do the work
• job applicants

Employers must make reasonable adjustments when:

• they know, or could reasonably be expected to know, someone is disabled
• a disabled staff member or job applicant asks for adjustments
• someone who's disabled is having difficulty with any part of their job
• someone's absence record, sickness record or delay in returning to work is because of, or linked to, their disability

Employers should try to make reasonable adjustments even if the issue is not a disability. Often, simple changes to a person's working arrangements or responsibilities could be enough to help them stay in work and work well.

Making reasonable adjustments for mental health
Mental health includes our emotional, psychological and social wellbeing. It affects how we think, feel and behave. If an employee has a mental health problem, it's important their employer takes it seriously and with the same care as a physical illness.
Mental health problems can:

• happen suddenly, because of a specific event in someone's life
• build up gradually over time
• be hard to spot because everyone has different signs and signals
• be hidden because many people find it difficult to talk about their mental health
• fluctuate over time which means that an employee's ability to cope with the demands of the job might change

When making reasonable adjustments for mental health it's helpful to remember that:

• every job is different, so what works in one situation might not work in another
• every employee is different, so what works for one employee might not work for another
• mental health fluctuates over time, so what works for an employee now might not work in the future

Employers and employees should work together to agree and review reasonable adjustments over time to make sure that the adjustments work well.

Benefits of reasonable adjustments for mental health
Reasonable adjustments for mental health can help employees to stay in work while recovering from or managing a mental health condition. They can also help employees work safely and productively.
Reasonable adjustments for mental health can help employers to:

• retain employees, reducing recruitment and training costs
• reduce absence and associated costs
• make sure that people at work are well, safe and productive
• create a healthy work culture, building mental health awareness and demonstrating a commitment to good practice

Responding to reasonable adjustments for mental health requests
As an employer, you should work together with your employee to agree reasonable adjustments for mental health.
Everyone's experience of mental health is different, and mental health can fluctuate over time. This means that identifying, agreeing and monitoring reasonable adjustments can take time. It also relies on you and your employees talking openly so that everyone's needs can be met.

Preparing for a meeting to discuss reasonable adjustments for mental health
Many people find it hard to talk openly about mental health, especially when they are under pressure.
It can be helpful for you to:

• look through any organisation policies relating to mental health, absence and reasonable adjustments – the policies should make it clear what is expected of you and your employee
• think carefully about how confident you feel talking about mental health at work – you might find it useful to learn more about supporting someone with their mental health at work
• put yourself in your employee's position and think about what is going on for them and what they might need to support their mental health at work

What to think about before responding to a request for reasonable adjustments
You should take time to prepare for a conversation with someone about reasonable adjustments.
It's normal for people who are experiencing mental health problems to be unsure about what they need to manage their mental health. Many people might not feel ready to decide what adjustments to suggest. This is why it's helpful to take a flexible approach, regularly monitoring and reviewing what works, and what does not.

There are several things you can think about which could help with deciding what reasonable adjustments will be possible.

1. Look through the examples of reasonable adjustments
2. Think about:

• what might be possible given the employee's job
• what might the impact of these adjustments be on their ability to do the job to a satisfactory level
• what might the impact of these adjustments be to the rest of the team
• could any risks to performance or others in the team be minimised

      3. Get advice from an occupational health professional
      4. An occupational health professional can give you advice on what adjustments might be suitable.

Have a conversation and agree a plan with your employee
You should meet with your employee to discuss reasonable adjustments and agree a plan.
Before the meeting you should:

• agree a time and place for the meeting
• share any policies that are relevant to reasonable adjustments for mental health
• explain to them the meeting is to help find a solution that will help them to stay well at work
• explain to them that some things might be possible and some things might not be but you're willing to support them access adjustments that are reasonable

Some people with mental health conditions find it difficult to concentrate or remember things. It can sometimes be helpful for employees to bring a trusted person to take notes on the conversation for them to refer to after the meeting.
The meeting might include:

• checking in on how they are
• explaining what the organisation policy is on reasonable adjustments for mental health
• asking them what reasonable adjustments they would like to explore and why they think these will be helpful to them
• discussing how the reasonable adjustments could work in practice
• agreeing the reasonable adjustments to try
• agreeing a plan to review and monitor the reasonable adjustments
• sharing what ongoing support is available

After the meeting
After the meeting you should confirm the agreed reasonable adjustments in writing.
Trial and monitor the reasonable adjustments
It's useful to monitor reasonable adjustments once they're in place.
You might sometimes find that reasonable adjustments:

• take time to work well as new routines are established
• need to be adapted to work effectively for everyone
• do not resolve the initial problem and need to be reviewed

Monitor the reasonable adjustments using the approach agreed during the meeting and keep a record of any changes made over time.

Put in place ongoing support and a process to review the reasonable adjustments

Mental health problems can last for a few weeks, months or longer-term. It's important that reasonable adjustments are reviewed on an ongoing basis.
You might find it useful to arrange follow-up meetings to discuss how the work adjustments are working. These meetings might be weekly, monthly or less frequently depending on the situation.

Before the meeting it can be helpful to:

• agree with your employee when and where the meeting will take place
• how you and your employee will know if the reasonable adjustment is working or not
• agree what to do next if the reasonable adjustment is not working

Posted in Health & Safety

Improving Employees Wellbeing at Work

Employee wellbeing is essential to ensure employees are happy in their job. It is the way employees’ duties, expectations, stress levels and working environments affect their overall health and happiness.

Employee wellbeing involves several categories of wellness, such as:

• Physical Health
• Emotional Health
• Psychological Well Being
• Social Relationships
• Financial Stability

To check how your employees feel with the wellbeing in the workplace, employers should send out a survey to find out information on how employees currently feel as well as what they think can be done to improve wellbeing.

Some ways in with employers can improve wellbeing is by:

1. Social club: companies can set up socials clubs where money is deducted from employees pay check and this goes towards activities that the club run on a regular basis such as a bowling night, crazy golf etc.
2. Walking meetings: if there are meetings ran, allow employees to pop in the headphones and walk and by the time the meeting is over there have got their steps in and some fresh air.
3. Have an intranet: an intranet is a great place to have free resources or information for employees that can improve their wellbeing. On the intranet you can include information on services your company provides such as EAP, healthcare etc. You can include link to risk assessments on Type 2 Diabetes, lung cancer etc as well as apps for mindfulness such as Headspace or Moodlight.
4. Giving back to employees: it is important for employees to be recognised for the wonderful work they do. Employees should consider some benefits for this work such as allowing employees to finish early one day.

Employees wellbeing initiatives are something that need to be done all year round in order to keep your employees wellbeing at a high.

For more information on wellbeing check the blog below:

Wellbeing at Work

Posted in Health & Safety

The Five Steps in Risk Assessment

The five steps in risk assessment are identifying hazards in the workplace, identifying who might be harmed by the hazards and taking reasonable steps to eliminate or reduce the risks, recording your findings, and reviewing and updating your risk assessment regularly.

1. Identifying hazards in your workplace

The first step in risk assessment is identifying hazards. You must identify things in your workplace which pose a risk to the health and safety of staff or visitors. Walk around your premises to consider what could potentially cause a hazard and consult with staff about what they think the risks are.

When performing a general risk assessment, you should look for risks such as:

Slip and trip hazards like deliveries not put away, loose flooring, spillages, etc.

• Electrical equipment
• Fire hazards
• Risks associated with manual handling or lifting
• Environmental issues, such as ventilation, temperature, or noise levels
• General maintenance risks, such as damaged or defective equipment, storage, cleaning supplies, or presence of vermin or pests
• Risks associated with workstations
• Working at height or objects falling from a height
• Risks caused by visitors to the workplace
• Lone working

You must keep an open mind to any risks specific to your industry and premises.

2. Identify who might be at risk

Secondly, you have to identify any particular group of staff whose health and safety is at risk due to the work they do. For example, warehouse workers might be particularly at risk of falls from height or things falling on them, whereas your office staff are more likely to be affected by poorly arranged workstations.

Additionally, sometimes a group of people will be at risk due to a shared characteristic, rather than the nature of their roles, e.g., pregnant women or young people. For example, if you employ any women of child-bearing age, the nature of the work could involve a particular risk to a new or expectant mother or her baby. These risks must be considered in the general risk assessment.

3. Taking steps to reduce or remove the risks

As part of your risk assessment, you must decide what to do about the hazards and risks you uncover, and take action to deal with them.

You must get rid of any hazards that you can and try to reduce the risks posed by any that you cannot remove.

Some suggestions on how to reduce or remove hazards in the workplace include:

• Changing the design or layout of your workplace
• Providing different or better work equipment, including any protective equipment
• Having better premises or a better equipment maintenance regime
• Providing better welfare facilities, e.g., rest breaks

4. Keeping written records

If you employ more than five people, you are legally required to keep written records of your risk assessments. If you have less than five employees, you do not have to write anything down, however, it is good practice to always keep a record of your risk assessments in writing so you can refer to them if needed.

5. Reviewing your risk assessment

As soon as you become an employer you should perform a general risk assessment. You are then legally required to review and renew your general risk assessment if it is no longer valid or if there have been changes to anything that is covered.

As business changes over time, you should regularly review and update your risk assessment. Annual reviews are common for most businesses.

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Posted in Health & Safety, Staff Handbook

Four Negative Workplace Factors Harming Retention

New research has identified the biggest negative habits harming employee satisfaction. Employees have been turning to Google for advice on coping with a negative working environment.

Let’s look at the four negative workplace factors that are harming retention.

Lack of career development opportunities

Over the last 12 months, there has been a huge increase in the number of google searches for ‘work progression’. Lack of progression and development opportunities at work can influence employee satisfaction and motivation levels. Some employees feel there is no more room to grow in their current role or opportunities to learn new skills which can negatively impact their well-being at work.

Employers should look to coach and develop their team’s skillset, building on each employee's individual strengths so they can reach their potential. Encouraging your team to develop their skills supports employee wellbeing, resulting in an engaged and motivated team.

Poor Recognition and Reward Systems

Google searches for ‘rewards in the workplace’ have increased by over 65% in the last year. Employees’ motivation can be increased with workplace rewards as they act as an acknowledgment of the employee’s behaviour.

Rewards don’t always need to be financial to be beneficial. A simple thank you or sharing news of an employee’s achievement can provide a team member with the recognition they deserve.

Limited access to health and wellbeing services

In the last year, there has been a 50% increase in the number of Google searches for ‘health and wellbeing in the workplace’. Employers need to place a greater emphasis on supporting their employee’s health needs. Whether it’s providing medical and dental cover or having access to mental health services through an EAP scheme, there are many ways employers can provide health benefits. In return, businesses will benefit from a healthy, happy, and motivated workforce.

Workplace Culture

A company’s working environment can have a huge impact on employee wellbeing, job satisfaction, and engagement. Negative workplace culture can be influenced by a lack of communication, a tense atmosphere, poor management, and a lack of work-life balance. Negative workplace cultures can lead to a higher staff turnover and impact your ability to attract and retain employees.

It's important for employers to listen to employees. Having focus groups or meetings with employees to get feedback will give you an indication of what your business is doing right and what needs to be improved.

Statistics have been provided by HR Director.

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How to Conduct a Risk Assessment for Remote Workers

Given the increase of remote and hybrid workers in the workforce, it is important to make sure you know how to conduct a risk assessment for remote workers. The usual health and safety duties extend to those working remotely and include identifying risks, ensuring workstation assessments are carried out and providing appropriate training.

Most people working from home are office workers which means it is a lower risk from a health and safety perspective, however, issues such as stress, fatigue, and poor posture can pose real dangers to homeworkers.

Risk assessments for remote workers

It is your duty as an employer to conduct risk assessments for remote and hybrid workers. The process of carrying out your risk assessment will be different. For example, you may not be able to visit the employees’ homes to carry it out, however, you may ask them to do a risk assessment themselves or send you a picture of their workspace.

Once your employees’ home workplace is passed as safe, it is their responsibility to ensure that it has been kept that way. However, the risk assessment must be reviewed periodically or whenever you have reason to believe that the risks may have changed.

Hazards to look for when conducting a risk assessment for staff who work from home

There are some risks that you should consider for most staff working remotely. Common risks include:

1. Mental health risks such as stress and anxiety
2. Risks associated with workstations e.g., the use of display screen equipment
3. Electrical equipment
4. Environmental issues such as noise levels, temperature, and ventilation

These are just some common risks homeworkers may experience, additionally you must keep an open mind to any risks specific to the work your employees are doing remotely.

Protecting the mental health of homeworkers

The following steps can help you reduce stress and mental health issues for staff who work remotely:

1. Ensure that remote workers come into the workplace regularly so they can stay up to date with the business and stay connected with their colleagues
2. Remember to include them in work socials to tackle feelings of isolation
3. Have proper communication systems set up to stay connected with off-premises staff during the day. E.g., phone, email, instant messaging, videoconferencing, etc
4. Provide helplines for IT support or equipment breakdown.

Health and Safety training for homeworkers

You must give enough health and safety training to all your staff to enable them to be safe at work, including those who work from home.

Regardless of where employees are working, all employers still have a responsibility for their health, safety, and wellbeing. Managers should be encouraged to regularly discuss this with team members, as employees should still take the first step in reporting any issues to their employer.

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Posted in Employee Contracts, Employee Handbook, Health & Safety, Hybrid Working

How to Combat Loneliness in the Workplace

According to the Campaign to End Loneliness, nine million people in the UK are suffering from loneliness. Loneliness has the same health risk as smoking 15 cigarettes per day, by increasing the risk of high blood pressure.

People experiencing loneliness can feel disengaged and disconnected from their work and colleagues, which can cause them to become emotionally detached from the organization.

Tips to help combat loneliness at work:

Communicate and raise awareness: Create a space for employees to talk about their wellbeing by checking in regularly, even if it’s virtually. Raising awareness will help build a company culture where people feel comfortable disclosing challenges and being informed about the support available to them.

Facilitate workplace socialising: People with social connections at work tend to be more engaged and loyal because these relationships help to build a company culture based on trust and respect.

Create opportunities for employees to connect: Get your organisation to organise quizzes, group calls, or even exercise classes for remote employees. Additionally, assign work buddies or mentors who can listen to work and non-work-related issues and provide team lunches or away days where employees can socialise outside of the workplace setting.

Encourage employees to use their employee benefits: benefits such as (EAPs), virtual GPs and mental health nurses can all prove a useful source of help. EAPs provide around-the-clock confidential support for a wide range of problems employees might be facing.

Loneliness affects millions of people in the UK every year and is a key driver of poor mental health. It is important that employees are made aware of what they can avail of in the workplace so they know when and how to reach out.

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What You Need to Know About Employee Burnout

Wellbeing at Work

Posted in Health & Safety

What You Need to Know About Employee Burnout

The switch to remote working in response to the coronavirus has seen a rise in employees reporting that they are working longer hours from home. Whether employees are on-site or working remotely, it is important for HR professionals and management to remain vigilant for signs of burnout among staff.

The term “burnout” is commonly used to describe a situation in which an employee experiences a period of mental or physical fatigue because of high-intensity pressure at work.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that burnout can have a negative impact on someone’s long term health. They also describe burnout as a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been managed successfully.

Impact on employees

Burnout can have a negative impact on employees’ output, reducing their productivity and quality of their work. Individuals often display a drop in morale or low mood, prolonged periods of burnout may even result in the development of mental health issues such as depression or anxiety.

Impact on employers

For employers, burnout can come at a huge financial cost, the drop in productivity and work quality may disrupt the ability to meet customer demand. A lack of employee engagement can also occur as a result which can often influence a company’s culture. Retention rates are likely to worsen if staff begin looking for preferable employment situations elsewhere.

Causes of burnout

There are a variety of factors that may cause an individual to suffer from burnout and it is important to understand that each situation will be different. Burnout will often be attributed to factors at work however there may be outside influences from an employee’s personal life that contributes to burnout.

Common causes of burnout in the workplace include:

• excessive workloads
• unequal distribution of work
• prolonged working hours
• inability to take rest breaks
• unrealistic managerial expectations
• toxic company culture
• bully and harassment
• health and safety concerns

Spotting the signs

It’s important that you are prepared to spot the signs of burnout amongst staff when they present themselves. This can only be achieved by keeping a close eye on employees’ behaviour and performance. It may be difficult to spot but you should be looking out for employees who are arriving early to work or staying late after their contractual hours.

Failure to meet deadlines or an uncharacteristic drop in performance is also usually clear signs that an employee may be struggling with the pressures of work, as well as a sudden change in mood or excessive displays of emotion towards colleagues and third parties.

Responding to staff suffering from burnout

If an employee is showing signs of burnout, it is up to you to address the situation. Due to the nature of burnout solutions may vary for everyone.

There are several methods that are likely to prove effective:

• removing any unnecessary causes of stress or agitation
• assessing and redistributing workloads where necessary
• providing extra training on areas of weakness
• encouraging staff to make use of annual leave and rest breaks
• investigating and resolving any allegations of bullying or harassment
• providing access to medical support e.g., EAP

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April 2022 Employment Law Changes

There are several changes in employment law taking place in April. Read our blog for a summary of the key changes.

Minimum Wage

From 1 April 2022, the national minimum wage increased. The new rates are:

• National living wage (23+): £9.50 per hour
• Adult rate (21-22): £9.18 per hour
• Development rate (18-20): £6.83 per hour
• Youth rate (16-17): £4.81 per hour
• Apprentice rate (under 19 or in the first year): £4.81 per hour
• Accommodation offset: £8.70 per day

Employers will need to ensure they are paying in line with these new rates from April 1st going forward.

Statutory Payments

Statutory payments also rose in April. Statutory sick pay increased to £99.35 per week from April 6th, 2022, and statutory maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental, and parental bereavement pay all went up to £156.66 per week with effect from the 3rd of April 2022.

Covid-19

From the 1st of April 2022, new public health guidance was provided. Anyone with a positive Covid-19 test result is advised to try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for five days after the day they took the test. Anyone with symptoms is advised to try to stay at home and avoid contact with others until they stop displaying symptoms.

Free tests were withdrawn from April 1st and instead, lateral flow tests can be bought from retailers for around £2 per test.

Most employers will no longer have to consider COVID-19 in their risk assessments from April 1st.

PPE to be provided to workers

From the 6th of April 2022, the Personal Protective Equipment at Work (Amendment) Regulations 2022 came into force and amended the 1992 Regulations. Under the new rules, employers will be required to provide suitable free personal protective equipment to workers as well as employees where there is a health and safety risk. If PPE is required, employers must ensure their workers have sufficient information, instruction, and training on the use of PPE.

April looks like to be a busy month with plenty of changes and things to be aware of for employers.

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Posted in Contract of employment, Coronavirus, Employee Contracts, Employment Law, Health & Safety, Pay/Wage, Wages

Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccinations are not required for Care Home Workers

Mandatory vaccinations became a requirement to work in a care home from 11th November 2021. This was due to be extended to all patient-facing staff in the health and social care sector on 1 April 2022.

On 31st January 2022, the Government announced that a public consultation would be launched on whether to revoke mandatory vaccinations. The consultation response was published on 1 March 2022. As a result of the consultation, regulations came into force on 15 March 2022 revoking the requirement for vaccination as a condition of deployment in health and social care settings.

Care home staff will no longer be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to enter care homes. While this is good news for the health and social care sector, there is still a possibility that mandatory vaccinations may be re-introduced in the future.

What to do next?

Care homes and those who were due to be affected in the health and social care sector from 1 April 2022 will now need to:

1. Review and update policies.

It is important for all employers to be aware that they have a duty to protect the health and safety of employees. As a result, employers are urged to carry out risk assessments and it is still likely that those providing health and social care will have a policy that recommends vaccination.

2. Update contracts that had been changed to refer to mandatory vaccination

3. Consider any cases of employees who are on notice or have been dismissed due to not being vaccinated. Employers should review these decisions against the change in regulation and their updated policies.

4. Keep health and safety risk assessments under review.

5. Discuss with their employees that there is no longer a requirement for their continued employment.

Posted in Coronavirus, Health & Safety

Living with Covid-19: The Latest News for Employers

The UK Prime Minister recently announced the living with Covid-19 strategy for England. All Covid legal restrictions will end in England on Thursday 24th of February and free testing will stop from Friday the 1st of April.

Here’s what employers need to know:

Self-isolation

Currently, if you test positive for Covid-19 you are legally required to self-isolate for ten days or five days following a negative lateral flow test on days five and six. From the 24th of February, this will be removed. A minimum five-day self-isolation period will still be advised, but workers are not obliged to tell their employers if they have tested positive and need to self-isolate. This change may cause some issues for employers.

Although the Government’s rules have changed, employers still have a duty of care to take reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable harm from occurring to their employees. Additionally, the relaxation of the rules will cause concern for employees who are fearful of contracting Covid-19. This may result in a reluctance to return to the workplace. Employers should continue to comply with the Government’s ‘Working safely during Covid-19’ guidance, which will remain in force until the 1st of April 2022.

Employers may advise employees to self-isolate for a minimum of five days following a positive Covid-19 test and may consider going further than Government guidance in the workplace. If they do, they will have to consider their position in relation to sick pay if the employee cannot work from home.

From the 24th of February, vaccinated contacts of a positive Covid-19 case will no longer be required to test for seven days and unvaccinated contacts will no longer have to self-isolate. Furthermore, from this date self-isolation support payment will also end. The support payments for self-isolation will also end on this date.

From the 24th of March, there will be changes to statutory sick pay and the employment support allowance will come to an end.

Testing

The Prime Minister also announced that the free universal symptomatic and asymptomatic lateral flow and PCR testing will be removed from April 1st. The UK Health Security Agency will decide who is entitled to free tests, but this will be limited to symptomatic at-risk groups and social care staff. Anyone else who does not fall into these categories will have to pay.

Numerous employers are relying on regular employee testing to keep their workplace Covid free. Once testing is no longer available for free, employers will have to determine a new approach. They may have to consider purchasing test kits for their employees.

 Vaccination

The Government announced additional booster jabs for those ages 75 and over. Mandatory vaccination polices have been risky, they can lead to legal risks including, data privacy, unfair dismissal, and discrimination. The Government intend to revoke plans to make vaccination mandatory for all health and social care settings in England, however, it has not been officially confirmed when or if this will happen.

Hybrid Working

Aside from health and safety concerns, some employees may be reluctant to return to the workplace due to a change in lifestyle. Employers will need to consider whether their employment contracts contain a requirement to work at the workplace, and if so, whether it is reasonable to enforce such requirements. Many employees will have the right to request flexible working, to which the Government is working on considered responses to these requests. Employers should treat these requests very carefully. If an employee has successfully performed their role at home during multiple lockdowns, then it would be extremely difficult to refuse a flexible working request.

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Posted in Coronavirus, Health & Safety, Hybrid Working