Why staff are increasingly turning to legal action against their employer

A study by a global risk management firm, Gallagher, has shown how employee disputes have become the most common legal issue for businesses.

Over the past five years, three-quarters of firms surveyed (764 large UK businesses) had seen a growth in legal cases against them (28% had seen an increase of more than 40%). 38% were due to employee disputes, involving hundreds of thousands or even millions of pounds in costs for individual employers.

Litigious climate

The main causes for employees turning to employment tribunals and other legal action are thought to be the cost of living, economic instability and, in general, a greater willingness in society to look for legal redress. 60% of business leaders expect further growth in the number of cases over the coming year.

In addition to the financial costs, employers have also flagged the damage to reputation, operations and use of management time. The sectors most affected are said to be energy, scientific operations, IT, and finance.

Changing relationships

EAPA UK chair, Karl Bennett said: “Where there are good relationships within an organisation, feelings of trust and belonging, then people are far less likely to feel the need to turn to the law. They would much rather deal with conflict in an informal way, and will have enough faith in management to do so. “A sense of wellbeing, and of an employer actively supporting and being committed to employee wellbeing, is fundamental to relationships. Making full use of EAP services, making sure concerns and worries are dealt with at an early stage, is so important to defusing the levels of stress and tension that lead to an escalation of situations.”

What will measures to counter a “sick note culture” mean for EAPs?

Controversial new reforms have been announced by PM Rush Sunak to keep more people in work, including making “sick notes” harder to obtain. Sick pay has become “a lifestyle choice” he argues, particularly among a generation of younger people: with everyday forms of anxiety being given as reasons for long-term absence.

As part of a series of Government announcements criticising the UK’s “sick note culture” and an increasing reliance on benefit payments, the PM has now proposed new legislation. This would include some people suffering from anxiety and depression losing their disability payments; and GPs no longer allowed to sign people off work for certain conditions.

Objective assessments

In response, disability charities are angry that cost-savings are being made a priority over care and support, and that the Government’s statements are stigmatising people with disabilities.

Calls are being made for more professional, objective assessments by specialists to deal with “subjective and unverifiable” claims about mental health. The British Medical Association, in turn, has criticised the lack of access to mental health services to provide those assessments.

Who decides?

EAPA UK chair, Karl Bennett said: “It’s fair to say that work plays a very positive role in people’s lives, in terms of rewards and purpose and social contact. The core issue in the current debates is who decides who should be given disability support and benefits because of their mental health condition, and who might be better suited to staying in work? Where are the specialist resources of mental health professionals to make these critical, life-changing decisions?

“Without this clarity, more pressure is going to be put onto employees, fearful of being stigmatised; on employers in trying to deal with complex cases and situations involving mental health; and EAPs, already facing huge levels of demand. How might expectations change around what an EAP can deliver in terms of clinical outcomes and clinical decisions on who should be given disability payments?”

Is the sick note system encouraging people to leave work forever?

There has been almost a 300% increase in the number of sick notes being issued for stress-related disorders over the past 10 years, according to a new research paper from the think-tank Policy Exchange.

The report also highlighted what it has described as a “de facto system of self-certification” — how 90% of NHS doctors agree to sick notes, usually without any kind of diagnosis. GPs are simply too busy. Overall the number of fit-to-work certificates being issued has doubled over the last decade.

Never going back

Most worryingly for employers and the future of the UK labour market, Policy Exchange found that of those employees signed off for six months, 80% of them will never return to work.

The findings are being used as evidence to support the government’s new Back to Work Plan, which aims to encourage employees to remain healthy and re-enter the workforce rather than rely on support from welfare benefits. Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Mel Stride has continued to argue that “life’s ups and downs shouldn’t keep people off work”.

Workplaces for health

EAPA UK chair, Karl Bennett said: “Everyone agrees that more openness and acceptance of mental health issues is a welcome development. An unintended consequence has been the worry that some employees are seeing stress as an illness rather than a part of everyday life that can be managed in positive ways.

“Work is known to play a valuable role in good mental health and encouraging resilience, in terms of recognition, rewards and social networks. But we need ‘good’ workplaces where organisations and their HR teams are paying attention to employee experiences and the sources of stress, making use of insights from their EAP partners and the data available — and working in partnership with an EAP and OH to make the workplace a basis of good health.”

Mental ill health costs reach £300 billion a year — more than the cost of the Covid-19 pandemic

Research commissioned by the NHS Confederation’s Mental Health Network has looked in detail at the actual costs of poor mental health in the population of England.

The work, carried out by the Centre for Mental Health, found that economic costs were £110 billion (like unemployment, sickness absence, staff turnover and presenteeism); health and care costs were £60 billion; and ‘human costs’ (reduced quality of life and premature death) was estimated at £130 billion.

Constant Covid

The report The economic and social costs of mental ill health suggests that the impact was greater than the estimated costs of Covid-19 on the UK economy in its first year, 2020. But unlike the pandemic, mental ill health is an ongoing challenge with no vaccine.

To put the costs into perspective, they are almost double the entire budget of the NHS in England of £153 billion. The analysis also suggests that a third of the entire costs fall on employers.

The NHS Confederation’s Mental Health Network is calling for a comprehensive ten year mental health strategy.

Work matters

EAPA UK chair, Karl Bennett said: “For the majority of people’s lives, work plays a pivotal role in their mental health, providing financial rewards and a foundation to their sense of stability and security, as well as lots of other important benefits: a social network, friendship, feelings of belonging, of purpose and challenge.

“So when things are difficult at work, for whatever reason, there is a real impact on overall mental health and how people feel when it comes to coping with other issues around their health, finances and relationships. “It’s so important, then, for a national strategy to look at the role of work as a priority. How ‘good’ workplaces — conscious of how work demands and workplace culture affects people’s state of mind, and providing different forms of advice and support when it’s needed — are critical for the mental health of the entire nation.”

How micro aggression impacts on workplace mental wellbeing

Research among 2,000 UK workers by Mental Health First Aid England (MHFA) suggests around one in three have been the subject of micro aggression or discriminatory behaviour from their manager in the past six months. In turn, for many, this has led to negative effects on their mental health.

Younger people are more likely to be affected by — or pay attention to — these kinds of behaviours from managers: 66% of 18-34-year-olds, compared with 38% of those in the 45-64 age group. 47% of White British staff were affected; 57% of Asian and Asian British, and 72% of Black or Black British. 

Feeling picked on

Employees don’t feel able to bring their ‘whole selves’ to work. Most often, this is because of comments that managers have made relating to their age, their working patterns, mispronouncing people’s names, comment about their personal life, or even their physical and mental health.

The ‘exclusionary behaviours’ pointed to in the report include ‘not getting credit for work done’, ‘favouritism of other employees’ and ‘sarcasm.’

Improving cultures in practice

EAPA UK chair, Karl Bennett said: “When people feel able to be themselves in the workplace they’re going to contribute more — feel more motivated, more engaged, and a better sense of mental wellbeing. Discrimination or a sense of being unappreciated or disrespected is bad for everyone.

“Creating a more positive culture starts with understanding where the specific pressure points and issues are occurring. And that’s where a close relationship with an EAP is critical; for working together to identify underlying sources of workplace stress (among which specific groups, when and where), which can be used to make structural changes, provide more support and training.”

Securing the future of the EAP

We are living in a time when EAPs have never been more important for the mental health, productivity and performance of employees.

EAPs needed to adapt through the challenges of the pandemic, and now, with limited NHS mental health services and increased demand due to the cost-of-living crisis and the growing complexity of needs, our sector is being asked to find yet another gear.  

At the same time, EAP providers are increasingly expected to compete on price. Customers want to see ‘value’. But what does that mean for an area like mental health? What happens to the quality of services, relationships and most importantly clinical outcomes?

In 2024, the EAP sector urgently needs to be clear on what an EAP actually is, in terms of standards and types of support we provide. The mental health of employees and the UK workforce as a whole is too important for EAPs to become diluted into a low-cost offering to suit mass markets. EAP providers need to keep their identity and reputation as a high quality and high impact service: a valued partner at the centre of organisational wellbeing.

So how do we talk about the evolution of EAPs to the market without suggesting that we’re broken? How do we demonstrate the growth of additional services, the unrealistic pricing, the challenges around counsellor resource, and importantly, how do we show the opportunities for the EAP sector?

After Easter, UK EAPA will publish a report called ‘Securing the future of the EAP’. The aim of the report is to raise awareness of where we are as a sector, how EAPs have changed, and how we can best work together to make sure EAPs evolve in the right ways for the future. Most of all, it’s a way of starting conversations within the sector and with employers around what we can do together to meet shared aims and aspirations around employee mental health.

The report asks the questions that customers, providers and users all want to ask, and provides new thinking from a number of industry experts including Dame Carol Black and Sir Cary Cooper. The interviews, carried out by our partner, the PR Practice, led to insights from contributors into a range of pressing issues for the industry, including:

• The reliance on digital offerings
• Increasing levels of service usage and referrals for counselling
• Unrealistic pricing
• New providers and competition
• A lack of counsellor resources
• Encouraging early intervention and prevention
• Being smarter on demonstrating financial returns
• Required standards for the growth of digital and AI delivery
• And the urgent need for greater collaboration.

A central question is how UK EAPA — as a guardian of standards — ensure EAPs don’t lose their way. This is particularly important at a time when increased awareness of mental health has accelerated the trend towards more people looking for support, more complex and ongoing issues, and reduced access to counselling through the NHS.

And with more and more providers adding so many different features to their offering, simply as a means of differentiating their service to ‘win’ contracts, how do we ensure the focus remains clinically led data, service validity and clinical outcomes? Interestingly, providers reported more pressure from employers to deliver services designed to support neurodiverse staff, and the children of employees.

Evidence from contributors to the report suggests that contracts are increasingly being won on price, meaning providers are being forced by competition to reduce their prices, even though their services are seeing higher levels of usage. As board member Eugene Farrell says: “In any other business, when there is high acceptance of value and demand you get price increases. Partly because of the financial environment for employers, along with new entrants and increased competition in the sector, there are now tiny margins and contracts that are loss leaders.”

This is an unsustainable trend. As a sector, we have a responsibility, on behalf of our colleagues, our clinicians and most importantly our clients to remain profitable without compromising on the safety of those we are employed to support. Our focus must be on the quality and appropriateness of our services, not that we can do it cheaper than our competitors. Not doing this simply means an accelerated race to the bottom. We all have a responsibility to educate those buying our service around the core elements and expected outcomes of an EAP provision.

In the report, Sir Cary Cooper asks the question: “Is the UK training enough counsellors? and do we have enough well trained and skilled counsellors to meet the demands, and are these demands burning out many of them?” The sector is seeing more competition for trained counsellors, and a higher turnover as counsellors look to diversify, retire or reduce their work commitments. In that way, we are no different to many sectors.

But there are opportunities for our market. EAP providers are in a key and often unique position when it comes to working with employers to shape and implement strategies for organisational wellbeing. Their data, insights and expertise help organisations to identify underlying sources of workplace stress. There is a shared view among EAP providers that there needs to be more partnership with employers, a specific focus on needs and how they change and evolve over time — a shift from offering a general menu of services to acting more like a wellbeing consultancy, setting objectives and providing expertise to target and address issues.

With growth, comes the importance of an organisation like UK EAPA in helping members ensure high standards through the changes and evolution of our sector; particularly with the rise in demand around digital and AI delivery. By the end of 2024, for example, we hope to have taken every accredited provider through the UK EAPA accreditation scheme. This is critical in distinguishing what constitutes a high quality and trustworthy EAP provider. At the same time, there needs to be ongoing development in terms of the wider appreciation and understanding of the market and employer needs: what makes a ‘good’ EAP throughout the 2020s.

Karl Bennett, Chair, UK EAPA

EAPA UK File on 4 Statement

As the representative body for the industry, EAPA UK is very concerned by the allegations made by the BBC Radio 4 ‘File on 4’ programme on Tuesday 12 March 2024 regarding an Employee Assistance Programme provider who is a registered member.

In particular, the impact allegations of this kind may have in terms of the reputation of EAP services as a whole — the essential services that provide hugely valuable support, every day, to 21 million employees in the UK.

We take any complaints about our members very seriously. We are liaising with the BBC programme-makers in order to have a full picture of the evidence and the nature of each and every claim being made. In the light of this, we will be undertaking a review of the allegations in order to establish the details of the situation, and to consider what actions we need to take.

EAPA member organisations have processes for dealing with complaints, and any organisation or individual who believes they have not been provided with the expected support from an EAP should contact their EAP provider. Complaints or concerns can also be sent in confidence to EAPA UK, info@eapa.org.uk

Legal firms eye personal injury claims for work stress

According to Claims.co.uk, the most stressful industries to work in are health and social work (with a reported 3,530 stress-related illnesses per 100,000 workers in a single year); followed by security roles (3,260 per 100,000), education (2,720), professional and science/technology jobs (2,310 stress) and the finance (2,140).

The ‘personal injury experts’ looked at data on self-reported stress illnesses from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) from March 2022 to March 2023, to uncover the UK’s ‘stress landscape’.

Big claims

The report authors highlight the common misconception that employees can only make a claim for compensation based on physical injuries: “If you’ve experienced stress at work, seeking advice from a legal professional is recommended for the best course of action.”

Advice is given to employees on what to do when considering making a claim for personal injury caused by workplace stress. This includes: pinpointing the causes of stress (such as excessive workloads, and a lack of employer support); keeping a daily record of stress triggers; keeping track of GP appointments; and making sure there is a record of how conversations have been initiated with employers to discuss concerns and potential resolutions.

Managing stress

EAPA UK chair, Karl Bennett said: “Work can be stressful, in whatever sector. It’s part of the deal in the sense that it goes along with having a role with responsibility, objectives and targets, and a need to work alongside other people with different personalities and agendas. Stress is a positive thing in terms of being part of a natural cycle of motivation, challenge and reward.

“With so much close attention being paid to stress and mental health in workplaces, organisations need to make sure they are monitoring cases of stress — something they can do via EAP data — and paying attention to root causes around work role design and workplace relationships etc. This awareness needs to be backed up by concerted action on how to prevent everyday stress turning into mental health concerns, and again, this is where the professional expertise of an EAP partner is crucial.”

Time to Talk Day highlights how UK workers still put on a ‘brave face’

Around 68% of UK employees said they felt the need to put a brave face when asked about their mental health, according to a survey among 5,000 people. When asked how they were feeling, 37% said they tended to just to rely on the stock phrase “Good thanks, and you?”, as a way to deflect the question.

The research was carried out to mark the tenth anniversary of Time to Talk Day, a nationwide campaign to encourage millions more conversations about mental health across workplaces, homes, schools and wider communities, run by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness in partnership with the Co-op.

Reasons to be brave

Half of the employees said they didn’t speak up about mental wellbeing worries because of ‘bigger things’ going on in the world and not wanting to be a ‘burden’. More than 30% thought that other people didn’t really want to know anyway. 27% feared they would be judged negatively.

The biggest impact on employee mental health was found to be the cost of living crisis (55%), followed by the pressures from work and the workplace (35%).

Come together

EAPA UK chair, Karl Bennett said: “No-one should be expected to talk about their personal concerns around mental health anytime they’re asked how they’re feeling. Obviously it has to be the right time, the right place — and with the right person. But when is that? That’s the real issue here.

“The sooner employees have that honest, open conversation about their mental health worries, the sooner they can start dealing with the symptoms and the underlying issues — and avoid a slide into much worse mental illness, requiring long-term support and treatment. EAPs are always there to provide that all-important ‘right moment’, with independent expertise that puts employees onto the best path to a healthier outlook.”

Revealed: how mental health offerings are now crucial to recruitment

The annual Workforce Attitudes towards Mental Health survey for 2023 involved more than 1,000 UK employees and 107 CEOs from across a range of sectors.

While 86% of employers see mental health benefits as crucial for recruitment and attracting new talent, not all companies taking part in the survey offered them. 86% of employers recognise the critical role mental health benefits play in attracting new talent. 95% of HR leaders said they plan to increase their investment in ‘social issues’ such as mental health in the coming year.

HR (92%), CEOs (92%), and employees (89%) share the view that companies need to step up in order to better support their employees. Of the mental health benefits offered, most employees valued 24/7 access.

Stress drivers

70% of employees said they had felt a sense of dread at work multiple times a month during 2023. The most common causes were personal finances (28%), poor work/life balance (26%), and poor management (25%).

The research also highlighted how HR professionals appear to be worst affected. 50% said they experience feelings of dread around work, once a week or more frequently. Absenteeism, turnover, burnout, depression and anxiety aer claimed to be highest in HR when compared to other departments.

“In light of the data and the wealth of other statistics showing the increased toll of mental health challenges in the workplace, it’s clear that employers are reassessing EAP needs,” said Headspace. “With employees facing heightened health and wellbeing challenges since the pandemic, there’s a growing call for employers to develop more accessible and engaging paths to EAP and close the gap between reported concerns and current utilisation.”

Come together

EAPA UK chair, Karl Bennett said: “There’s no doubt that the need for EAP services is growing. Which means it’s increasingly important that employers and EAP providers work in partnership to understand the specific needs of a workforce, where preventative interventions can be used to avoid so many people reaching the ‘crisis’ stage, and working out the most effective and tailored package of services: digital, human and specialist offerings.”