Holiday sickies

A lot has been made of recent European rulings that declare employees must have time off again if they are sick during their holiday. Naturally as employers we immediately imagine our employees with a box of tissues in hand, lying on a sun bed and pulling a sickie. The ruling came about because the law says people need a break from work for their health and wellbeing but in these days of austerity how many are actually getting a proper break? Many parents take alternate weeks off during the school holidays and end up trying to catch up on all the jobs at home; hardly the way to energise yourself for work. 

Alternatively they spend an absolute fortune on a “day out” to one of the attractions, it pours with rain, the lions hide and the souvenirs bought with Granny’s money cause world war three in the back seat on the way home. It’s no wonder that the Smartphone soon comes out of the drawer where it was placed with such good intentions at the start of the break. Fear is a contributory factor to staff staying connected during evenings, weekends and holidays but this is not good for them. 

So a bit of advice from The HR Dept: tell your staff to switch off and above all have some fun and laughter away from the office so they can come back refreshed and ready to hit the ground running. That is if the gardening did not do their back in!

Pooch power

We often comment on a lot of statistics and stories surrounding workplace absence as a result of stress, however the following piece of research is one of the most original.

Fudge - The HR Dept's office pooch

Nicely timed with Ashleigh and Pudsey, the lovable dancing dog trick act being crowned the ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ winner at the weekend, new research suggests that taking dogs to work ‘reduces employee’ stress. According to the scientific study, those who had dogs in their workplace were less stressed throughout the day compared to those who didn’t – woof indeed! Realistically, it has to be appropriate to the workplace but dogs seem to have a positive impact on employee morale and create a more enjoyable working environment, but what do you think? 

Do you have an office dog? Leave a comment below or even better tweet us a picture of your workplace office pooch! @thehrdept

Fuelling the strike

Earlier this week the Unite union announced that fuel tanker drivers have voted to go on strike to improve terms and conditions. The army have been called into training should they have to take over fuel deliveries. What would happen if members of your staff claimed they were unable to get to work because of fuel strikes i.e. there was no fuel left in the local area or they couldn't afford to put fuel in the car? We were asked recently this very question so we thought we would share it with you:

Employer: I’ve heard the news that there may be strike action on fuel. What if one of my employee’s comes to me claiming they have run out of petrol and could not afford to pay the premium on the short amount of fuel left in the pumps? In the short term they have suggested working from home, but I need them in the office so this wouldn’t work. What should I do?

The HR Dept: You’ve answered it for yourself; you need them in the office. Contractually they are obliged to turn up to work on time and perform their duties. You could consider your compassionate side with them and at least they were being honest and didn’t pull a sickie, but can you afford to sub wages? The reality is they need to find a way in to work – it is their responsibility. You could also suggest using public transport, share a lift with a colleague, share a lift through a car sharing website or like this GP did, walk the 18 miles to work. There are always practical ways around this disruptive event. Make it clear however that you expect them to be on time each day as well as understanding their predicament. Ensure they recognise that any unauthorised absence will be treated seriously as being AWOL.

Straight forward stuff really, but a good practical example of how to deal with these one off situations.

Time to Change - let's talk about mental health

It was during a TV advert break this week that a particular advert appeared that caught our attention and led us to discover more and promote the ‘Time to Change - let’s talk about mental health’ campaign launched by the Department of Health. The advert focuses on an employee returning to work following a period of absence due to a mental health issue. A colleague asks them, ‘how are you?’

It is a powerful advert and no doubt many people have been afraid to ask the same simple question in a situation where they know someone has been away from the workplace due to mental illness.

There is a stigma attached to mental health, and we are encouraging all organisations  to sign up to find out more about the campaign and dispel that stigma by talking about the issues.

Handling these often sensitive subjects can be tricky for anyone within a business and often we are unaware of any issue until something happens or an individual confides in you. Being supportive, understanding and pointing someone in the right direction of support is imperative.

Just saying ‘cheer up’ or ‘you have got to pull yourself together’ are not effective methods of support – being non-judgemental, confidential, supportive and listening is a good place to start.

You can make a pledge of support by clicking here, we have.

'Blue Monday'

Producing a better workplace environment will increase productivity of employees. We've recently heard that workplace plants can ‘reduce depression, anxiety and overall stress’, as well as other suggestions like reducing the amount of the colour red within the workplace, and ensuring you sit so your back is not facing the entrance to your work.

These are all relatively minor suggestions to help employees/workers get over ‘Blue Monday’ - Monday 16^th January 2012 which apparently is the most depressing day of the year. After the highs of Christmas/New Year, people then tend to have a lull in emotions. Obviously this isn’t to be confused with depression.

Whether or not it will cost the UK economy £93 billion in lost productivity/absence is difficult to measure and imagine to be honest.

Having a physically better working environment as well as fostering a positive work ethic is naturally going to assist in the growth of a business and its’ personality too.

To give you food for thought, imagine if you worked here...

Health, happiness and prosperity for 2012 to all.

National Stress Awareness Day 2011

Today marks National Stress Awareness Day, with the theme this year being ‘Wellbeing and Resilience at Work’. With cut backs across the board, especially in small and medium sized businesses and ‘survivors’ of redundancies picking up the slack, we at The HR Dept are not surprised to hear that stress levels in the workplace have doubled in the last 4 years.

We always advise employers to have a proactive approach in HR, but particularly with issues related to stress. Kate Stuart, a massage therapist who works through one stress related knot at a time, has provided a great way for employers to spot the signs of stress in their workers:

S -houting

T - earfulness
R- eddening or blushing
E- xhaustion
S- leeplessness
S- ighing

It was recently revealed that stress was the main cause for long term absence, as demonstrated by António Horta-Osório, Chief Executive of Lloyds Banking Group who has taken temporary leave due to fatigue. Kate adds “where the responsibility of the level of care is falling on the shoulders of employers, offering well being services for employees could be a small investment”.

By identifying issues early, employers can prevent stress related absence and waning performance.

To find about more about National Stress Awareness Day, go to http://www.isma.org.uk/national-stress-awareness-day/