Updated statement concerning the BBC File on 4 allegations of 12 July 2024

EAPA UK remains steadfast in its commitment to upholding the highest standards of practice in Employee Assistance Programmes. We ensure that our members adhere to our rigorous Standards and Code of Ethics. While we are deeply concerned about the BBC’s allegations against one of our members, we have temporarily paused our investigation to ensure more detailed consideration is given to our investigative process. We will resume the investigation promptly, conducting a thorough examination of the allegations and publishing our findings and conclusions in due course.

Can 15 minute desk breaks protect employees from poor mental health?

Research studies released in time for World Mental Health Day among 26,000 desk workers around the world has highlighted the relationship between time spent at a desk, stress and impact on mental health.

One survey by ASIC, the sportswear manufacturer, confirmed that the longer workers are inactive at their desks, the more wellbeing scores fell; another study showed that stress levels rose and mental wellbeing scores declined after two hours of continuous desk work — and after four hours, stress levels increased by 18%.

Empty desks

A follow-up study by a researcher at King’s College London, looking at the mental wellbeing of 80 office workers from countries around the world, has suggested that 15 minutes of movement helped to reverse the effects of long periods of desk work. The ‘mental state’ of staff was seen to improve by 22.5%. A daily desk break for one week was seen to lower stress by 14.7%, and improve productivity by 33.2%.

As part of the #deskbreak campaign, employees are being encouraged to post images of their empty desk onto social media streams.

No silver bullets

EAPA UK chair, Karl Bennett said: “Desk breaks are a sensible way of mitigating the impact of long periods of sitting in front of a screen — a practical means of expelling the stress that can build.

“As with any wellbeing tactic, like yoga sessions and healthy snacks, they can only ever be one part of a response to the issues. It’s important that HR, and employees themselves, aren’t distracted by the idea that a single initiative is ever a solution. Employee mental health can only ever be supported effectively by ongoing attention, through listening and understanding.”

Why is there disillusion with wellbeing perks?

When Investors in People (IIP) surveyed more than 1,000 employees and 500 HR decision-makers, they found they rated flexible working hours and a positive workplace culture far above wellbeing perks such as subsidised gym memberships, meditation apps and fruit baskets. 90% said flexibility was the most important factor in determining their sense of wellbeing.

There’s a gap in the perception of the value of wellbeing perks between HR and staff themselves. Only 27% of staff thought schemes like stress management classes and wellness advice apps were useful. Meanwhile, around 72% of HR believed a perk like gym membership was valued, when 59% of staff said they had never even taken up the opportunity.

Treat causes not symptoms

HR need to stop focusing on symptoms, such as stress, and be thinking more in terms of addressing root causes such as excessive workloads, long hours and difficult workplace cultures.

“That’s not to say that the more tangible wellness benefits are pointless – they are still used and valued by many employees,” said Paul Devoy, chief executive of IIP, “but they must be underpinned by a strong culture of wellbeing.”

EAP as early warning system

EAPA UK chair, Karl Bennett said: “The real challenge for HR is understanding the changing landscape of issues and needs across an organisation — where teams are struggling with workload pressures, with questions over management styles, problems with relationships, or escalating worries over finances.

“More and more different wellbeing services clearly haven’t been the answer. A tailored approach, with HR working closely with their EAP provider and accessing its bank of insights to identify real needs can lead to the tangible outcomes needed, lower levels of stress and more engaged and motivated people.”

Updated statement from UK EAPA concerning the BBC File on 4 allegations of 12 July 2024

UK EAPA continues to be concerned regarding the allegations made by the BBC regarding one of its members.

While we recognise the latest report alleges that the BACP have suspended the voluntary accreditation aspect of their membership, their investigation is ongoing and therefore UK EAPA will not be making any comment on the current action taken by the BACP.

UK EAPA are close to concluding our own investigation around the allegations and hope to provide an outcome within the coming days.

UK EAPA continues to promote the highest standards of practice and the continuing development of employee assistance programmes (EAPs) in the UK, by ensuring that members adhere to our Standards and Code of Ethics.

Can monitoring online searches protect employee mental health?

Staff working at Revolution Bars and Bath Building Society are among those being supported by a new mental health tool: a browser extension that checks for negative searching habits at work, around issues of suicide and self-harm.

In response, the R;pple Suicide Prevention Charity tool intercepts searches and replaces the screen with calming images, advice on breathing exercises and access to free online mental health resources.

Suicide prevention

The tool is being advertised by employers as evidence of their “commitment to support employee emotional health and suicide prevention”. No data is captured or shared with management.

Danielle James, head of pay and reward at Revolution Bars Group, said: “If we manage to intercept just one of the 1.2 million monthly harmful online searches to deliver a message of hope and support to a vulnerable or distressed individual, then this will prove to be an invaluable safeguarding intervention.”

The rise of the digital fix

EAPA UK chair, Karl Bennett said: “As a last ditch means of picking up on cases where people are at risk of suicide, the browser intervention has the potential to save lives, and that has to be welcomed.

“However, employers have a critical role in support and prevention of mental health crises at much earlier stages. If staff are using work computers to make such searches, then it’s a signal of dangerous failures in available support services.

“Also, it’s so important that anyone in such a serious situation, where there’s a risk to life, the response isn’t just a digital one — another screen, another web page, another web tool. It’s inhuman and cold. A common feature of mental health crises is a painful sense of being alone, no one can help them. Which is why initial, digital interventions need to be backed up with access to a human voice and professional human support via a service like an EAP.”

Should employers commit to doing ‘no harm’ to staff health and wellbeing?

A new study by the Institute for Public Policy Research think tank has claimed that the cost of sickness among employees has risen by £30 billion since 2018. The whole landscape of health and wellbeing and the role of business has changed, it says.

Presenteeism has been singled out as the core problem. While sick leave is now at an average level of 6.7 days a year, up from 3.7 days in 2018, around 44 days of productivity a year are lost due to people working through sickness (up from 35 days in 2018).

A ‘do no harm’ duty

In its report, the IPPR has called for a ‘pro-business’ plan that means a new, more pro-active role for businesses in promoting employee health and workplace wellbeing.

This includes new tax incentives for companies that commit to significant improvements in the health of their workforce, including the security, flexibility and pay of their staff (focused mainly on SMEs); a new ‘do no harm’ duty for employers, paying more attention to health outcomes rather than just safety inputs; and new compulsory reporting on worker health to help private investors differentiate between “health-orientated and health-harming businesses”.

Understanding what’s happening

EAPA UK chair, Karl Bennett said: “How aware are most businesses of the reasons their staff are absent or not performing? I don’t just mean the line manager, or colleagues, I mean every level of the business. How joined up is the organisational infrastructure? Is HR training their managers to hold constructive, productive return to work, leavers and 1:1 sessions with their team?

“Whether there is formal regulation in place or not, employers need to pay more attention to the wellbeing landscape within their organisation. Which groups are under most pressure and why? How can they best be supported so that they feel part of something? EAP partners are well-placed to provide both insights and support.

“It’s a fact that if an employee doesn’t feel like they are part of something, they will disengage, which could ultimately result in lethargy and presenteeism.”

Should we speak to the boss about our mental health?

A survey by The Global Business Collaboration for Better Workplace Mental Health (GBC) has flagged that levels of mental illness among employees may be higher than the usual estimates might suggest (with around 55% either currently dealing with a mental health challenge or have experienced a challenge in the past).

The study of a mix of 12,200 employees across 12 countries, also flagged the reason: that employees continue to feel a sense of shame, and are reluctant to speak up.

Shaming managers

Critically, of those who have been through mental health issues and opened up to their manager, 47% believed they had faced discrimination as a result. 57% thought they had been stigmatised by their co-workers.

As a consequence, half of those who felt their line manager wasn’t in a position to be supportive and have conversations around mental health, were feeling de-motivated. 35% were thinking about leaving their job. Only 45% of managers said they had training on how to have mental health conversations.

Around 80% of employees believed their organisations cared about their mental health when the senior leader openly talked about the issues, compared with 34% when they didn’t.

Safe talk

EAPA UK chair, Karl Bennett said: “It can only be beneficial for an organisation’s culture if there’s understanding and a sense of support around mental health. We all have to deal with feelings of stress and struggle to one degree or another, and need to believe there’s empathy.

“But the reality is that line managers, taking responsibility for performance targets and delivery, are not necessarily best placed to take on the role of mental health advisers. They can try to be sympathetic but there focus is always going to be on getting things done.

“No amount of training for line managers or leaders will help this situation. Employees need someone they can speak to in confidence, anonymously if necessary, without any worries about the implications for perceptions of them and their capability. EAPs are critical in this way, in always being there to listen, to start conversations and provide professional advice.”

EAPA UK Statement concerning the BBC File on 4 allegations – 12 July 2024

EAPA UK is extremely saddened to read the allegations brought to the public’s attention by BBC News on 12 July 2024 against one of our accredited provider members. As the representative body for the EAP sector, we set out professional standards which we expect our members to adhere to. We take alleged breaches to our standards seriously.

Each accredited provider is required to undertake a verification audit of our standards which is carried out independently. The audit and accreditation process requires that responses to the confidentiality and data protection questions must be positive, and that the auditors are satisfied that the provider’s confidentiality statements pose no cause for concern.

Confidentiality is the central tenet of an EAP service and creates trust from service users. It is at the heart of what we do, and a critical requirement. As such all EAPs must abide by this. It is imperative that users of EAP services can be confident and certain that all calls are fully confidential.

EAPA UK has commenced an investigation to understand from the provider the facts behind the reported allegations and if true, how this was allowed to happen and to get full clarification on the mitigations being put forward to ensure this does not happen again in the future.

It is important that our service users trust that EAP providers do not operate in the way reported and they should be confident that the only limitations to confidentiality are within the confines of safeguarding and UK Law.

It is essential that all EAPA UK members adhere to our professional standards at all times. Failure to do this may result in the members’ verification and/or membership being suspended or removed.

EAPA UK will report on the findings of our investigation once it has been completed.  

If you would like to learn more about the EAPA UK Standards, please follow this link: Resources

BBC allegations – UK EAPA statement

UK EAPA is aware of the recent allegations made by the BBC against one of its members. We take allegations of this nature extremely seriously and are reviewing at Board level.

Investing in mental health = better business performance, says Warwick Business School

Workplace mental health issues are estimated to cost UK employers £56 billion a year in sickness absences, employee turnover, and presenteeism (when employees are working when ill, or are routinely working beyond their contracted hours). As well as firm-level impacts, these issues have serious individual level consequences, with around 300,000 UK employees leaving their jobs every year because of a mental health problem [DWP: Stevenson/Farmer review of mental health and employers, 2017].

The Enterprise Research Centre (ERC) at Warwick University has been tracking UK employer experiences of workplace mental health with an annual survey since before the pandemic, uncovering some striking insights. For example, while the proportion of firms reporting some level of mental health related absence is currently stable at around 27%, presenteeism has nearly doubled over the past two years and is now reported by around 37% of firms. This may be related to hybrid working, which has also increased significantly since the pandemic. Around 30% of employers reported some level of remote working in 2024, compared to only around 11% before the pandemic.

Current research focusing on the effects of remote working suggests that working at home may make it more difficult for employees to psychologically detach from work. There is little doubt that it has also normalised working while unwell, as employees can be present at meetings without fear of infecting colleagues. This is a potential problem as research has linked presenteeism with stress and burnout in individuals, which inevitably impacts on firm-level performance too. As hybrid working continues to grow, employers will need to ensure that they are encouraging a good work-life balance for those working remotely.

More broadly, while nearly 80 per cent of employers believe they have a responsibility to address mental health issues in the workplace, the ERC’s data points to something of an ‘intention-action’ gap, with only around 56% offering mental health initiatives. We can also see a strong reliance on low-cost and no-cost practices, such as encouraging open conversations about mental health, which is reported by more than 90% of firms.

While such initiatives are an important element of workplace programmes to support mental health, they rely on line managers to deliver them. Yet only around half of employers surveyed in 2024 offered any training in workplace mental health to their line managers, which suggests that many may be relying on untrained or under-trained line managers for their mental health support programmes. In fact, only 22% of firms report that they have a budget for mental health initiatives.

We know that employers who have adopted initiatives to support mental health in the workplace often report improved firm-level outcomes. For example, in 2023, 53 per cent said that overall business performance had improved. In light of the apparently inexorable rise in workplace mental health issues, training line managers in dealing with them may be a wise and timely investment.

Dr Maria Wishart, Research Fellow, Enterprise Research Centre, Warwick Business School https://www.enterpriseresearch.ac.uk/themes/mental-health/