You should check with employees if there is anything in the workplace which is causing or contributing to their mental ill health or absences. This should be done sympathetically, and you should reassure the employee it is a genuine wish to provide support with a view to resolving the problem if the employee is experiencing problems at work.
Where a workplace problem is identified, steps should be taken to remove or reduce any factors that are causing the problem, if this is at all possible.
Grace Eyre’s Employee Assistance Programme offers a wide range of mental health support for employees. This includes counselling sessions, bereavement and loss, bullying, depression, anxiety, stress, resilience and suicide.
Please refer to our Flexible Working Policy.
Consider all options when discussing flexible working. Maybe a trial period will be required, or flexible working could be agreed on a temporary basis.
An individual work-related mental health review aims to identify real or perceived stressors and then to identify actions to reduce the risk factors. See point 3 for further information.
The mental health risk assessment looks at possible hazards and control measures to reduce the potential risk or harm. This is a general risk assessment and applies to all staff.
Mental Health Awareness for Management. Please contact learning and development if you wish to complete this course.
Several modules touch on topics which can support you effectively support your staff:
If an employee is experiencing mental ill health, they should be signposted to their GP for additional support. An occupational health referral can also be considered.
Contact a member of the Human Resources team for support, advice, and guidance.
A mental health action plan is designed to help employees manage their mental health and wellbeing at work and to set out how Grace Eyre and line managers can support staff members.
Employees do not have to be experiencing a mental health problem to use the plan. Completion of this form is voluntary and does not have to include information that employees are not comfortable sharing.
The plan is confidential between the employee and line manager.
The plan looks at how you can manage good mental health, spotting and dealing with poor mental health and how Grace Eyre can support with employees mental health.
Where possible arrange to have a private chat to start a supportive, meaningful conversation and be a non-judgemental listener, about the employee’s mental health.
Useful questions to ask include:
Book a meeting with the employee to discuss the review. The meeting should be in a confidential space with plenty of time to work through the details.
In cases where it is not appropriate for an employee’s manager to complete the form with the employee, for example where the problem lies with the manager, then a member of HR or an alternative Manager can be arranged.
Identify the real of perceives stressors, identify the level of risk and then discuss actions to reduce the risk.
Time scales should be agreed as to when the agreed action plan is reviewed. This should ideally take place 3 months after the initial meeting. Further reviews may be necessary after this time. It is recommended that the review action plan is discussed on a regular basis.
There are different forms of stress and not all stress is negative. Some stress keeps us alert and gets us prepared for action. However, when stress is excessive and isn’t managed, it can start to impact a person’s health, mentally, physically and emotionally.
Stress is based on our perception of an event or situation and our emotional response to it. In some cases, it may be a particular situation, which is affecting someone’s level of stress or a combination of things.
There are several key indicators of the physical and emotional signs of stress:
If you’re worried that someone is at immediate risk of taking their own life, you should do the following if you feel able:
If someone has attempted suicide, call 999 and stay with them until the ambulance arrives.
If they can keep themselves safe for a little while, you can get quick medical advice by contacting NHS 111 or you could help them make an emergency GP appointment to see a doctor soon.
You can also encourage them to call Samaritans on 116 123 to talk to someone, 24 hours a day. Or you could suggest they try the employee assistance helpline or other helplines and listening services, including Mind’s helplines and listening services.
