It has been widely acknowledged that alongside being in the midst of the pandemic, there is also a mental health crisis ongoing. Shocking stats show that almost 20% of adults have experienced depression in some form in June 2020, which is nearly double the pre-pandemic figure. 39% of employees have experienced poor mental health where work was a contributing factor in the last year.

Many factors influence how someone’s life is affected by the pandemic: age, sex, ethnicity, caring responsibilities and career choice can mean that someone is disproportionately affected. Many employees have reported that both their mental and physical health has deteriorated since the national lockdowns have been in place.

Many are suffering being socially and physically isolated, the uncertain nature of the pandemic is causing anxiety and taking a toll on the mental health of employees. It can often feel like ‘Groundhog Day’, for both those who are homeworking and those who are commuting as life has become monotonous, many are feeling trapped in the current circumstances with social and life events having been postponed or cancelled.

In light of World Mental Health Day on 10^th October,we reflect on the importance of de-stigmatising mental health, particularly in the workplace, and what practical steps you can take as an employer to support your workforce throughout the pandemic and beyond.

HR’s effect on employee’s wellbeing

An effective HR manager/team can play a key role in supporting employee wellbeing. Absence management and policy implementation, such as dealing with flexible working requests, can make an impactful difference to employees’ quality of their working lives. Management are often the first point of contact if employees are finding things difficult or require workplace adjustments to better facilitate a healthy work environment.

An effective HR manager should be holding regular wellbeing meetings with staff and be able to identify early warning signs of deteriorating mental health and offer guidance or link employees to sources of professional help when required.

The impact the pandemic is having on management can mean that they are dealing with a complex mix of personal employee situations and circumstances. Management need to make sure that employees are treated as individuals, treating both employees’ work-related and personal issues with a sensitive and empathetic approach.

Join the Mental Health at Work Commitment

The Mental Health at Work Commitment, is a set of positive steps for employers to take to improve and support the mental health of their workforce. The commitment provides a framework to help employers support positive mental health changes for their employees, whilst providing tools and practical advice to assist in implementing the six standards.

Employers should take practical steps to reduce mental health stigma and improve the support to employees. In these uncertain times, employees should feel that there is an ‘open door’ policy between themselves and management, so that they can express how they are feeling in a safe and comfortable space and know that they will be supported.

We have collated some mental health at work resources here:

https://www.mind.org.uk/workplace/mental-health-at-work/taking-care-of-your-staff/

https://www.mentalhealthatwork.org.uk/

https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/how-support-mental-health-work

https://www.hse.gov.uk/stress/standards/index.htm

If you would like to discuss how you could support your employees further, we are available on 0161 603 2156 for confidential advice.

Spending quality bonding time with your child undoubtedly has a positive impact on your child and the family unit, however, fitting this around your work schedule can often be a difficult task.

Shared Parental Leave (SPL) is a policy aimed at improving gender equality in the workplace and gives new parents the opportunity to split up to 52 weeks of SPL between them, as well as up to 39 weeks of statutory shared parental pay.

You need to share the pay and leave in the first year after your child is born, or placed with your family if you are adopting. Many parents in the United Kingdom are eligible to take SPL, however SPL’s use is exceptionally low, with research showing that only 2% of eligible couples utilised SPL last year.

What rate is SPL paid at?

The rate of pay (at the time of writing: £151.20 a week or 90% of your average weekly earnings, whichever is lower) is understood to be the main reason behind the scheme’s apparent unpopularity, as few couples can afford the financial implications of taking this leave, especially as having a baby is a particularly expensive life event.

It is suggested that to assist in closing the ‘gender pay gap’, SPL should be raised to help it become a more affordable option for parents who are juggling childcare responsibilities with workplace responsibilities.

Could you do more to promote the use of SPL in your workplace so that employees are aware of the leave on offer to them after having a child?

It is suggested that when undertaking workplace discussions with pregnant employees or expectant fathers, all options for leave and pay are fully disclosed and explored so that the employee has the opportunity to decide whether or not they would like to utilise their shared parental leave. Managers should have good knowledge of the scheme, so they are equipped to answer any employee queries on the subject.

If you need help navigating SPL or any other HR queries, please give us a call on 0161 603 2156 and we will be happy to assist you confidentially.

Lockdown has seen a dramatic rise in homeworking. However, in order to stay operational and fully functioning, there are concerns that employers have been overlooking the health and safety aspect of working from home for their employees.

Occupational health plays a huge part in managing the transition from the workplace to the home workplace, and we will discuss some possible solutions to ensuring the health and safety of your employees whilst working virtually.

Before the pandemic, homeworkers only made up around 5% of the workforce. This is now estimated to be at around 34% of workers according to ONS.

Due to the unexpected nature of the shift to homeworking, businesses have had the sudden need to integrate their systems and processes into the new virtual working world in order to deliver their services.

A downside to this is that many employers have dropped the ball when it comes to ensuring their employees’ welfare is a high priority. A recent survey showed that only 1 in 8 employees have undertaken an employer-led homeworking assessment since workers were ordered to work from home if they can.

Reports show that beds and sofas are the most commonly-used home working spaces, replacing the office desk. It is thought that work-related musculoskeletal injuries will soar in the next year, putting an obligation on employers to undertake a thorough health and safety risk assessment with all employees to ensure they have a safe space to work.

What can I do as an employer to ensure workers’ health and safety at home?

• Communicate with your employees and assist in setting up a homeworking space
• Undertake a risk assessment to identify potential problems and control risks
• Provide the appropriate basics for a homeworker such as furniture and tech
• Host wellbeing calls/virtual meetings for employees to check in on their welfare – working from home can be very isolating
• Ensure adequate rest breaks are being enforced so that employees can separate home and work life

If you need any assistance with managing your homeworkers, please give us a call on 0161 603 2156 for a free, no obligation chat – our friendly team will be happy to assist.

The pandemic is causing a huge downturn in recruitment and an increase in planned redundancies. Over a fifth of businesses have planned redundancies between April-June 2020, reports the Labour Market Outlook.

Over 50% of HR managers who partook in a recent poll admitted plans to furlough employees, and for those already having made use of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, up to 60% of the workforce are thought to become furloughed.

Employers are halting recruitment plans with just 40% making plans to still recruit throughout the pandemic.

Gerwyn Davies of CIPD states that the furlough scheme is responsible for avoiding mass job cuts. He noted ‘the government has heard consistent calls from the CIPD to extend the job retention scheme and make it more flexible at the same time’ and suggests upcoming challenges for the government will be to work alongside employers to strategise plans to enable furloughed staff to work part-time for their employer, and gradually reduce reliance on the wage subsidy before the scheme ends in October.

He suggested workers should prepare for pay cuts and freezes in the upcoming year as businesses try to save jobs. A third of businesses surveyed have admitted to postponing annual pay reviews in 2020.

In response to the pandemic, many businesses are looking to increase homeworking, it is even thought that it may be advised soon by the government as an alternative to going into the workplace for ‘non-essential’ services.

Halting recruitment is also being implemented, which is bound to have a devastating effect on those who are job-seeking as a result of the pandemic.

Introducing new flexible working arrangements as a result of the pandemic could mean a shift to permanent homeworking, which will be welcomed by some, but certainly comes with its challenges.

The labour market will transform as a result of the pandemic, as we adapt to new ways of working.

Although recruitment has fallen, it is positive to note that intentions to make redundancies only modestly increased in comparison with the previous quarter, and it is hoped that as many businesses as possible will make use of the furlough scheme to retain staff and livelihoods.

Despite everyone’s respective political differences, everyone can agree that the recent events in the US have caused outrage and an opportunity for reflection. There are definitely lessons to be learned from the despicable murder of George Floyd; lessons that can be learned both for personal and professional life.

Solidarity must be shown in these dark and uncertain times; awareness must be spread in the workplace around the subject of race.

At CIPD’s recent webinar series on the issue of race in the workplace, Dev Modi, head of inclusive leadership stated “HR can create impact and change in society, and we need to look at how we respond to issues faced by our employees with something practical and tangible.”

During the course of the webinar, Modi outlined the challenges currently being faced as a result of coronavirus and BLM, and offered a range of practical steps to help HR and leaders use the current climate to “rise up” and create genuine, lasting change.

The Relevant Legislation

The Equality Act 2010 provides race as a protected characteristic, meaning it is unlawful to racially discriminate against employees, trainees and job seekers.

“Race” includes nationality, colour and national or ethnic origins under section 9 of the Act. Multiple racial identities are captured in this broad definition including, but not limited to: Black, Black African descent, Black African-Caribbean, and British African.

Examples of discrimination under the Act include:

• direct discrimination: less favourable treatment because of race;
• indirect discrimination: where a provision, criterion or practice places persons of one race at a particular disadvantage when compared to those who are not of that race, and that PCP cannot be justified as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim;
• victimisation: less favourable treatment of an individual because they have made a complaint about race discrimination or have helped someone else to make a complaint about race discrimination; and
• harassment: unwanted conduct related to race which has the purpose or effect of violating an individual’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that individual.

So how can you, as an employer, take steps to create racial equality for minorities, and dismantle systemic racism?

Positive Steps such as:

Acting swiftly to address any allegations of racism in the workplace and making it clear through policy and procedure that you operate a zero-tolerance ant-discrimination policy;

Communicating that your workplace is a safe environment for difficult conversations;

Supporting/starting racial minority networking groups and including an Ethnicity section in your pay gap report;

Refocusing workplace training programmes to include topics such as race, diversity and inclusion;

Utilising recruitment agencies who recruit diverse talent.

Final Thoughts

There are lots of helpful BLM resources available here https://www.futurelearn.com/info/blog/black-lives-matter-resources

Remember, even small steps can have positive consequences, it is not an option to not act to stamp out discrimination.

WHAT IS CQC?

The CQC (Care Quality Commission) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England. They ensure that health and social care services such as care homes are providing their service users with effective, compassionate, safe and excellent care and they encourage service improvement. They register care providers, monitor, rate and inspect services, and take protective action for service users through advocating for change on major quality issues. The CQC protect vulnerable people’s rights and their values include teamwork, integrity, caring and excellence.

WHEN AND WHY ARE INSPECTIONS HELD?

The CQC undertakes two types of inspections:

COMPREHENSIVE INSPECTIONS which are held regularly to ensure services are providing care that is responsive to people’s needs, effective, caring and safe. They are typically unannounced, although there are circumstances where the provider will be notified beforehand e.g. a small residential service may be contacted 48 hours prior to inspection to check that people are at home or up to a week’s notice may be given to very complicated community services where careful planning is needed.

They are held at the following intervals:

Services Rated as Good And Outstanding – normally within 30 months of the last comprehensive inspection report being published.

Services Rated as Requires Improvement – normally within 12 months of the last comprehensive inspection report being published.

Services Rated as Inadequate – normally within 6 months of the last comprehensive inspection report being published.

Services That Are No Longer Dormant – the first comprehensive inspection will normally be scheduled between 6 to 12 months from the date the service starts operating again.

Newly Registered Services – for brand new services, the first comprehensive inspection will normally be scheduled between 6 to 12 months from the date of registration. If a service was previously operated by another provider, or at a different address, the inspection will be normally be scheduled based on the location’s last inspection report publication date and rating or within 12 months of registration, whichever is the later date. For more information on why and when we continue the regulatory history (report and rating) of a service, see the guidance on our website.

FOCUSED INSPECTIONS are smaller in scale than comprehensive inspections, although they follow a similar process. Focused inspections are carried out either to investigate concerns which have been raised at a comprehensive inspection or if there is a change in a care provider’s circumstances such as a merger, acquisition or takeover.

WHAT IS BEING INSPECTED?

The CQC will focus their inspection on their five key questions based around the welfare of the service user:

1. Is the service user safe, protected from abuse and avoidable harm?
2. Is the care, treatment and support effective, achieving good outcomes and helping the service user to maintain quality of life?
3. Are the staff caring, treating the service user with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect?
4. Is the service well-organised and therefore responsive to people’s needs?
5. Is the service well-led to provide the best quality care that encourages learning and innovation and promotes an open and fair culture?

Each of these five questions above is broken down into more in-depth questions that the CQC refers to as their ‘key lines of enquiry’. This ensures consistency in inspections and ensures that all the key areas are covered.

HOW TO PREPARE FOR YOUR CQC INSPECTION

Here are our top tips to prepare for your CQC inspection:

• Implement and utilise a service user feedback form – this ensures we can understand how people experience your service
• Identify a suitable area on your premises that we can undertake document reviews and private conversations in, this could be a room temporarily
• Nominate someone to undertake introductions of inspectors to staff and service users and ensure they are available to accompany the inspector if this is needed
• Ensure you have means of contacting the Registered Manager if they were not around when the inspection takes place
• Consider how you can ensure that your business can continue its usual activities so that care is not disrupted during the inspection
• Ensure staff understand we don’t have the same expectations of understanding and knowledge for all staff members
• Ensure you are ready to produce documentation during the visit – you will be allowed 48 hours to produce these if there is a valid reason they cannot be produced on the day
• Maintain a folder that sets out to staff where they could quickly access information such as health and safety and training records
• Keep your records, such as training records, up to date
• Ensure that service users and staff understand why the inspection is taking place and what to expect (as set out below)

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE INSPECTION?

Stage One

The inspector or inspection team will meet senior staff and explain who they are, the purpose and scope of the inspection, and how findings will be communicated. If acute hospitals or GP services are being inspected, the inspection will begin with a presentation by the care provider in which they will give their own views of their performance.

Stage Two

The key lines of enquiry are explored through:

• Conversing with service users, alone and in groups
• Using information collated from concerns and complaints from service users
• Observing care and focusing on individual care pathways
• Inspecting records and the environment of the care
• Policy and document review

Stage Three

A feedback meeting will be held with senior staff and the inspection team will:

• Summarise the findings of the visit
• Identify any issues that have arisen from the inspection
• Highlight any immediate action that the service provider needs to take immediately
• Outline plans for future visits
• Explain how judgements will be made and published

Areas where the service is excelling or could be improved will be focused on particularly. Please note that inspections vary from service to service however the inspection above is based on a typical visit.

Stage Four

After the inspection, a report is produced by the lead inspector to include ratings which reflect the CQC’s findings and overall judgement of the quality of the care. The report will include what the findings from the key lines of enquiry mean for service users. Pertinent findings, whether positive or negative, will be detailed along with any regulation breaches found. Recommendations will be made to assist the provider in improving their rating.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU FAIL AN INSPECTION?

The service provider will be rated as either Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement or Inadequate, with each of the five key questions having a separate rating.

By law, you have to display the ratings from the CQC in the places you provide the care somewhere that is easily seen. If you have a website, you must display your rating on the website. When you receive your report after the inspection, you must respond to any areas of concern identified during the inspection and create an action plan to improve and address the issues.

The CQC will follow up on action that the service provider has been advised to take. This can be in the form of contact or re-visiting the service to undertake a focused inspection.

If your ratings require improvement, the CQC can:

• Issue requirement notices or warning notices to set out improvements that must be made and a timeframe for this to be implemented
• Change a service provider’s registration which can limit what the service provider may do e.g. imposing conditions for a set timeframe
• Putting a provider in ‘special measures’ where they are closely supervised to assist in improvement of the service in a set timeframe
• Issue cautions, fines and prosecute cases where people are harmed or placed in danger of harm

If you fail an inspection, you should comply immediately with any recommendations for change that have been made. You should follow the advice and guidance set out above and you can seek further guidance here:

https://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/documents/cqc_preparing_for_inspection_-_cpa_version_-_final_0.pdf