Interim data from the Working at Home Wellbeing Survey conducted by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) during the first weeks of “lockdown’ showed that 71% of respondents were working at home due to COVID-19.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses were adopting more agile ways of working, including allowing employees to work from home.
The pandemic has accelerated these changes and has seen businesses that previously didn’t contemplate allowing staff to work from home having to quickly adapt to the government’s advice at the start of lockdown to permit “travelling to and from work, but only where this is absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home.”
That message has changed during the pandemic as restrictions have eased and then been re-imposed. We are currently in a position where the government’s latest advice is that “office workers who can work effectively from home should do so over the winter”.
As we approach World Mental Health Day this article focuses on the mental health and wellbeing of those working from home and some of the legal obligations that employers are under.
Working from home- all positive?
Many people will welcome the flexibility and benefits that home working brings to their lives.
- No commute to the office, meaning avoiding train cancellations and waiting on freezing cold platforms on winter mornings or not getting stuck in traffic queues for hours.
- Being able to start work earlier and perhaps finish earlier.
- Space to be more reflective and creative coming up with new ideas and being more productive
- Having a longer sleep in the morning as your “commute” is a matter of metres rather than miles.
- Being at home to see your children when they come home from school or sit down with your family for dinner all at the same time.
- Being able to fit work around childcare, caring or other commitments more easily.
But not everybody will have seen those benefits.
- For some, a commute offered them some time on their own, a transition between work and home, a little bit of “me time” listening to the radio or a podcast, watching the world go by, reading, scrolling through their phone or maybe even a sleep (of course, most of those not while driving!).
- Whilst in an ideal world you may be able to start work earlier and finish earlier the reality for many is that this time will be taken up with more work and responsibilities.
- Your longer sleep may have meant that you aren’t doing your normal pre- work exercise routine, mindfulness or even getting on with necessary household chores.
- Many people don’t live with other people, or at least other adults, and given the imposition of tighter restrictions on hospitality, leisure activities and mixing with other households, may not be physically interacting with as many people in a day.
- The blurring of “work boundaries”- the ability to logon from your sofa or just open your emails on your mobile may mean you may be tempted to logon in the evening or at weekends making it very difficult to switch off.
- For many domestic abuse victims workplaces are a safe space. Lockdown and the requirement to work from home has seen a huge and well publicised increase in domestic abuse. In April, Refuge (the UK’s largest domestic abuse charity) reported an increase in visits to its National Domestic Abuse Helpline website had seen a 700% increase in one day.
Mental health and working from home- some statistics
More interim data from the IES’ Working at Home Wellbeing Survey conducted early in lockdown revealed some interesting statistics:
- Poor sleep and increased risk of exhaustion are a cause for concern:
- 64% of respondents reported a loss of sleep due to worry;
- 60% reported corresponding increased symptoms of fatigue, perhaps as a result of nearly half reporting working patterns that included long and irregular hours.
- 60% worry they are taking less exercise.
- Using the WHO5 Mental Health Measure - Mental health is poorer for:
- Younger workers (conversely, mental health is much better for over 60s)
- Those looking after elderly relatives (but parents are no different to non-parents)
- Those living with parents or renting
- Those new to homeworking (compared with those who have done it for a long time)
- Those working more than 10 hours longer than contracted hours per week
- Those in less frequent contact with their boss
There were, however, some positives from the survey:
- 67% reported that they enjoyed the autonomy of homeworking; and
- 71% said their boss is good at staying in touch.
Pleasingly, Business in the Community’s 2020 Mental Health at Work report in partnership with Bupa has found that 63% of employees feel that organisation supports their mental health compared to 55% in 2019.
What is clear is that working from home during the pandemic is different to working from home in non COVID-19 times. There are more pressures on people, particularly on their mental health and wellbeing dealing with changing restrictions, the risk to jobs and concerns about health, having holidays cancelled as well as for some the need to self-isolate and become a home educator alongside their day job.
It’s living at work, not working at home. Employers and employees need to adapt to that.
What can Employers do to support the mental health of those working from home?
Lots of support, guidance and resources are available for employers. These are just a few of the things focussed on mental health that you should consider incorporating into your wellbeing strategy:
- Be mindful that mental health is fluid.
- Raise awareness of the impact of mental health issues and help reduce the stigma around mental health ill health.
- Promote a healthy work life balance- for example, taking holidays, not emailing late at night
Leaders can increase the likelihood of this balance becoming rooted in their business by exhibiting the behaviour themselves.
- Use anonymous pulse surveys on mental health and wellbeing to see how your staff are feeling, to identify trends and put in place measures to address them
- Invest in third party support, such as an Employee Assistance Programme, which allows employees to access assistance about mental health and other matters in confidence.
- Introduce Mental Health First Aiders
- Building online communities to provide support to try and replicate the community in the office
- Line Managers regularly checking in with their team members. Contact in any form has been shown to have a positive impact.
- Make your organisation a safe place to disclose mental health issues, one that is free from stigma.
- Encourage staff to pick up the phone and speak to somebody for that personal connection rather than email them.
- Draw inspiration from other businesses for ways in which to reduce the impact of technology on our mental health such as:
- VW where the email serves stops sending employees their emails half an hour after they are meant to have stopped work;
- Other organisations where employees have their emails switched off during holidays.
- not emailing after a certain time or at weekends
Why should organisations focus on the mental health and wellbeing of their workforce?
The importance of mental health and wellbeing has risen to prominence over the past few years and we have been dealing with an increasing number of queries from clients (both employers and individuals on the issue).
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought mental health and wellbeing front and centre.
Businesses are increasingly aware of the moral imperative to look after their employees’ mental health and wellbeing, as well as the economic reasons why it make good sense to do so. It is commonly accepted that a mentally healthy workforce is more productive and more engaged, which leads to increased financial turnover and increased staff retention.
Failure to look after mental health and wellbeing can lead to poor employee relations and ultimately employment tribunal claims and investigations and potentially prosecutions by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Those of you who have attended our Managing Mental Health and Wellbeing session delivered in conjunction with Wirral Mind will be familiar with these issues.
You will likely be aware that mental ill health will amount to a disability under the Equality Act 2010 (the Act) provided that it meets the requirements set out in Section 6(1) of the Act.
The Act talks of “a mental impairment” with the focus being on whether “the impairment has a substantial and long term adverse effect on P’s ability to carry out normal day to day activities”. Each case must be assessed on its own facts.
If an employee’s mental ill health is a disability for the purposes of the Act then an employer faces increased obligations not to discriminate against them and also to put in place reasonable adjustments to assist them in the workplace. This can be a tricky area to navigate for employers.
If you have any concern about the mental health of your workforce from an employment law perspective then we are here to help. Please contact your usual member of our Employment team.
This contains a general overview of information only. It does not constitute, and should not be relied upon, as legal advice. You should consult a suitably qualified lawyer on any specific legal problem or matter.
