Many of us now face a new challenge as we return to work, with a clear message from the Government that it is time to make this positive move forward.
At Peninsula, we have brought back many of our staff already and have sought to set the standard for COVID-safe premises, gaining valuable, hands-on experience in the process to pass onto our clients.
It’s more important than ever that you call us for advice, both on employment law issues as you begin to bring employees back from furlough or on health & safety requirements as you make your premises safe and secure.
The regulations are complex and are changing daily. Our experts are monitoring and evaluating the implications of every update and announcement hour by hour.
They provide the best advice to ensure you are making the right decisions, so make sure you draw on their expertise and knowledge. The long-term consequences of making poor choices right now could be severe.
A further consequence of the pandemic is that many employees are suffering from poor mental health and anxiety.
A collaboration between the National Statistical Office and several Government departments, including the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Work and Pensions, has found that 19 million adults in Britain are reporting high anxiety levels.
The World Health Organisation has advised that governments should put mental health care “front and centre” of their post-pandemic responses.
How can you as an employer help your employees as they begin to come back to the workplace whilst potentially suffering from nervousness and anxiety?
After a period of such low business productivity, it’s essential your employees are as happy, healthy and confident as they can be as they return to work, so that normal working levels can resume as soon as possible. Helping your employees to keep well is as important for you as it is for them.
You need to communicate clearly what measures you have put in place to ensure they will be working in a COVID-safe environment. Another option that really helps, which we offer to all our employees at Peninsula, is an EAP (Employee Assistance Programme).
For a matter of pennies per member of staff per month, your employees would have access to 24-hour, confidential counselling over the telephone, plus face-to-face counselling should that be advisable.
In this particularly difficult and uncertain period, having the safety net of an EAP service can be tremendously reassuring to employees and can help them, and you, manage their effective return to work whilst negotiating any trepidation they may feel.
For more information on the EAP scheme, please call 0800 028 2420. And don’t hesitate to call for advice on any of the issues I’ve talked about today.
