Half of all the working days lost in the UK due to ill health are connected to mental health. Managing employees with mental health issues is complicated, and poor mental health has significant consequences for employers including lost productivity and increased staff turnover.

These are the key things you should be considering when managing employees with mental health issues:

1. Be aware of your obligations

Employers are responsible for helping employees manage work related stress. Although many employers feel reluctant to interfere, there are positive legal obligations upon them:

• to take reasonable care of employees’ health and safety; and
• to assess the risk of stress related ill health arising from work activities.

Employers should therefore be mindful of the following risk factors and manage them where possible:

• long hours
• unrealistic expectations and deadlines
• high-pressure environments
• lack of control in your workload
• job insecurity and change management
• lone working

It is also important to note that some mental health issues will be classified as a disability under the Equality Act, which means that reasonable adjustments may have to be made in the workplace. These adjustments should be considered in conjunction with medical evidence and the employee should have input to any adjustments.

The reasonable adjustments that should be made will of course depend on the individual, (and the size of the employer) but some common changes could include:

• different hours,
• phased return after a long absence,
• reduced workload, or
• a mentor.

Even where employees have not formally disclosed they are suffering from mental ill health, reasonable steps should be taken and systems should be in place to find out relevant information, whilst also considering issues of privacy. Employers should always give the employee the opportunity to explain the reason for their actions or dips in performance at work, and if health issues are mentioned in these discussions, should then investigate further before reaching a decision.

2. Be proactive

There are preventative steps you can take to try and proactively support employees and prevent problems occurring as follows:

1. check in with employees regularly – make sure regular catch ups are scheduled in advance with employees, both individually and as a team. These may need to be more frequent when dealing with remote workers.

2. create a positive atmosphere which encourages conversation – you need to ensure that employees feel like they can ask for help when it is needed. It’s important that employees generally feel comfortable to talk about issues impacting on their work. If they do feel comfortable talking about childcare or other health issues, then this is a good step towards them talking openly about their mental health.

3. encourage employees to use the support tools available to them. This may be sharing external resources or internal resources like your employee assistance team.

4. encourage a positive work/life balance – encourage employees to take breaks and also look after their own wellbeing.

5. appointing mental health first aiders – appointing and training mental health first aiders can be a great way to support your employees and spot issues early. It also means that employees have someone in the business they can go to that isn’t their manager, to sign post them so they can get the support they need.

3. Recognise the signs

Knowing whether or not an employee is struggling with a mental health issue can be difficult. Behavioural factors that you may see are:

• lateness
• withdrawal
• working long hours, change in work pattern
• uncharacteristic problems with colleagues
• short term absences
• long term absences

These behavioural red flags are even harder to spot when someone is working from home, so it makes open and frequent communication even more important when managing employees with mental health issues and a need to ensure regular face to face meetings.

4. Keep communication open

If an employee discloses a mental health issue it is important that the manager:

• listens and makes the employee feel ‘listened to’
• avoids dismissing the concerns
• avoids failing to take them seriously
• avoids offering an immediate solution.

The aim should be to come away with an understanding of the employee’s concerns and for the employee to feel they have been listened to in a safe place. Then you can consider how best to support the employee.

5.How to manage poor performance

Poor mental health can affect performance but despite the mental health issues you should still follow your performance management process. You may begin with some informal support, but you can and should then engage in your normal processes.
A fair performance management procedure will involve:

• consultation with employee
• medical investigation often with input from a GP or Occupational Health
• considering re-deployment
• reasonable adjustments

In a nutshell….

When it comes to managing employees with mental health issues you are not expected to have all the answers…. the following are important to keep in mind:

1. be proactive, don’t shy away from issues and communicate, communicate, communicate!
2. ensure you have fair processes in place and adjust them as necessary.
3. get help from medical professionals and other organisations such as Mind.

For advice contact nicola.goodridge@goodhr.co.uk or on +44 (0)7917878384

Following Gary Lineker’s tweet, which detailed his thoughts on the Government’s asylum policies, he was asked to ‘step back’ from presenting Match of the Day because the BBC believed his tweet broke their impartiality guidelines and was thus in breach of his contract.

Lineker’s tweet became the focus of intense national debate. His enforced break from presenting was also met with derision from co-presenters and commentators across the BBC; with many of them showing support for the presenter by refusing to take part in scheduled programming. This of course, threw the BBC’s sporting schedules into total disarray and also led to many journalists and observers saying that the BBC’s own credibility was seriously undermined.

A difference in understanding?

It’s hardly surprising that large organisations are nervous about social media and more likely to try and discourage their staff’s use of networking sites, rather than encouraging them to actively embrace the on-line world. The Lineker vs. BBC situation highlights exactly why employers can be anxious about their employees being vocal on social media – especially if it’s obvious who they work for.

The BBC felt Lineker’s comments could be interpreted as inflammatory and went against their core remit on remaining impartial – especially when it comes to the actions of the British Government. Lineker, on the other hand, didn’t see a problem and believed he had a right to free speech, with many of his colleagues believing the same.

Although it’s impossible to say for certain, it’s highly likely the disagreement stemmed from whether or not the BBC made their policies on social media use clear, obvious, and consistent across the corporation. It would certainly account for the difference of opinion between the two sides…

Clarity is key for effective social media policies

Social media may not be popular with everyone, but – in whatever shape or form – it is here to stay. This means employers are better off engaging with it pro-actively, rather than trying to get their staff to take a pledge of silence. This is where having a clear, accessible and consistent social media policy comes into play.

Here are some tips for you to consider…

• Make it inclusive of the entire business
HR policies can only ever be truly effective if they are inclusive of the entire business, including your freelancers. The last thing you want to create is a social media policy that says one thing is fine for one group of employees, but not for another – this will likely create division and confusion.

To avoid this from happening, ensure your company’s social media policy includes everyone’s perspective and addresses a wide range of concerns, including those of your organisation’s senior leadership, HR, legal, marketing, and IT departments. If you involve your employees in putting your HR policies together in the first place, they’re much more likely to adhere to its core principles.

• Make it accessible for the entire business

If your policy is there to protect both your employees and your business, don’t just keep it stored deep on a shared drive, or only sent as a document for new starters. Ensure it’s accessible by anyone in the business at any time. In addition, ensured signed copies by your employees are also safely stored there, too.

Shared workspaces or HR portals make it easy for employees to access and view important company documents anytime, anyplace. In addition, any changes made to your policies can be quickly communicated, whilst it can also act as the ‘one true voice’ for your key policies ensuring there’s no confusion as to accuracy.

• Tie them into your own company cultures and values

See the chance to enhance engagement within your business by aligning your social media policy to the visions and values of your business. For example, if a core value of your business is to be respectful to others, then this can be reflected within your social media policy encouraging your people to think carefully about what information they put out in the public domain.

In a nutshell….

Social media continues to evolve and grow; just a few years ago, TikTok was no more than an idea on paper, yet today it’s one of the most used digital platforms. It can sometimes be difficult for businesses to keep up with such technological advances, but it’s important they do so to avoid issues like this arising. Ultimately, a reasonable and relevant social media policy can help safeguard both the employee and employer and any freelancers and contractors, as all parties are aware of what constitutes appropriate use. Where the policy is breached, employers are then able to take fair action against the employee for it.

For advice contact nicola.goodridge@goodhr.co.uk or on +44 (0)7917878384