Who’s afraid of the ‘Sunday scaries’?

Research linked to this month’s World Mental Health Day has suggested that 67% of UK employees regularly experience the Sunday scaries, an anxiety at the thought of Mondays. Among 18 to 24 year-olds the figure rises to 74%.

The main causes, says the research, are the thought of the ‘to-do’ list waiting for people, along with a lack of sleep. And typical Sunday evening behaviours, the distractions like bingeing on TV programmes or social media, only make things worse, say psychologists.

Soothing scaries

Other factors are important in creating Sunday night anxieties. Like what’s happening at home and feelings of weekends not providing the sense of restfulness and security that they should. And the return of the stresses of Monday morning commuting into the office, what the roads and railways are going to be like.

In response to the study, wellbeing experts have recommended ways in which employers can help counter the Sunday scaries, such as ‘safe spaces’ where staff can talk about their work worries rather than bottle them up; try not to hold too many high pressure review or catch-up meetings on Monday mornings; making people more aware of the mental health support on offer, such as EAPs; and, even mixing-up the working week so that Monday isn’t always the first working day, breaking the routine.

Normal life

EAPA UK chair Eugene Farrell said: “The Sunday scaries is just another buzzword — but anything that keeps mental wellbeing on the agenda for employers isn’t such a bad thing. It can help make sure people keep thinking about the effects work has on them, and getting early support from services like an EAP.

“At the same time, this kind of term raises issues of balance. Where do HR — and employees themselves — draw the line between ongoing levels of stress and anxiety that can lead to issues with mental health, and ordinary experiences of apprehension. It’s only normal to have feelings of nerves ahead of days when we’re going to be tested and challenged, expected to be producing our best. Often it’s only a sign that we care about our work, and that’s a healthy thing, it’s where we also get the positive sense of fulfilment and achievement from. The Friday night glow.”

Who’s afraid of the ‘Sunday scaries’? – EAPA UK

What’s the real cause behind the wave of ‘quiet quitting’?

Media have jumped onto a TikTok clip which has gone viral, resonating with workforces globally. At a time. “You’re not outright quitting your job, but you’re quitting the idea of going above and beyond,” says user @zkchillin.

“You’re still performing your duties, but you’re no longer subscribing to the hustle-culture mentality that work has to be your life; the reality is it’s not, and your worth as a person is not defined by your labour.”

Not quite quitting

Worries about finances due to the cost-of-living crisis is a factor in declining productivity — staff are thinking more about what they are and aren’t being paid to do.

A survey of 2,200 UK employees by Champion Health, the global wellbeing platform, has suggested that financial pressure is now the highest cause of stress. 71% of UK professionals, says the research, are experiencing moderate to high levels of stress.

The main cause though, argues Anthony Klotz, associate professor at University of College London’s School of Management, is people trying to avoid burnout. “Quiet quitting is effectively redrawing boundaries back to the job description so that people aren’t thinking about work 24/7. Instead, they’re dedicating time and energy to other elements of their lives that are more meaningful, leading to im-proved wellbeing.”

Quietly belong

EAPA UK chair Eugene Farrell said: “Quiet quitting is a wellbeing issue, a psychological one in particular. The result of years of different stresses and strains that have yet to ease, meaning employees are more questioning of what’s being expected of them and the impact that’s having on their health. What matters most? Career progress or health?

“The solution has to be around the feelings of belonging. Quiet quitting happens because of disen-gagement, a weakening in the sense of community, of people all working together and supporting each other — of the employer having their best interests at heart.

“An EAP and its professional services need to be front and centre of HR’s response. Making sure every-one feels supported, part of something, always able to talk about worries like their finances and be listened to.”

Will employees stay for the ‘breakup leave’?

A survey among American workers has found that ‘hangover leave’ is the most sought after benefit (23%).

The research, carried out by YouGov for an equal pay software company Trusaic, also found support for perks such as ‘breakup leave’ (time off when a romantic relationship ends) (17%), ‘pawternity leave’ (already offered by some UK employers, for when staff take on a new dog), social media detox days (12%) and even compassionate leave after a sports team has suffered defeat in a major event.

Perk retention

The survey is about a wish-list rather than reality, a tongue-in-cheek response from employees about the benefits they’d like to see.

But there’s a serious issue behind the story: in the post-pandemic age of restless employees looking for quality of life and more rewarding roles (combined with angst over the cost-of-living crisis), the pressure is on for HR and benefits teams to keep employees feeling settled and motivated. In the US, 48 million staff moved on to another job in 2021, and there are reports of two jobs for every single candidate coming forward.

How loyalty works

EAPA UK chair Eugene Farrell said: “With the Great Resignation and the increasing war for talent, there’s a temptation to look to eye-catching perks. Something new and different, without the need for increasing the salary budget.

“What the difficult days of the pandemic showed again and again was how much people appreciated human support from their employer — that they could be trusted to have their back, doing their best to keep them in work, staying in touch.

“Through all the new anxieties, employees want to be sure they can trust their employer, they will be listened to when they have issues, there will be a fair and reasonable response. And EAP services continue to be the backbone for organisations in this way.”

How work is becoming the ‘rock’ in employee’s lives

In a bid to ensure it’s a positive force in employee’s day-to-day lives, Lucky Voice has added a new package of mental health and wellbeing support to its existing EAP offering. It’s just one of the many organisations seeing the EAP as the ideal foundation for spreading both a sense of support and good health.

Lucky Voice — an entertainment brand offering private karaoke rooms, cocktail bars and late night party space — has made available a suite of self-help tools, ranging from managing anxiety to breath-ing techniques. Its team of 87 also have access to a four-week programme to help people make life-style changes, stopping smoking, looking after their diet or alcohol consumption, or how to improve their sleep routine.

Values at work

With the cost-of-living-crisis also in mind, Lucky Voice has also introduced specific EAP support around debt management, household budgeting and dealing with civil disputes.

Charlie Elek, managing director at Lucky Voice, said: “One of our core business values is to have fun, be fun and we strive to offer our employees the same excitement that our karaoke-loving customers en-joy when they pick up one of our mics, and our EAP is very much a realisation of this value.”

Staff retention levels at Lucky Voice are among the highest in its sector — and the business now sees mental health and wellbeing support as a critical way to maintain that situation.

Listening first

EAPA UK chair Eugene Farrell said: “We’re going through year after year of anxiety. Compared with past decades, new threats and challenges to mental health seem to be coming thick and fast.

“Now is the time when people, more than ever, can find a sense of stability in their everyday work, for their finances and for the basis of their daily routine. Employers have that opportunity to be a positive force in people’s lives — and so build a sense of belonging and loyalty.

“Growing EAP services is a straightforward and essential way of demonstrating understanding and commitment, becoming the glue at the centre of operations that holds people together around a core of good mental wellbeing.”

How work is becoming the ‘rock’ in employee’s lives – EAPA UK

Are your managers ready to talk about the menopause

MPs in the Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) are urging government to include the menopause as a protected characteristic — requiring employers to make reasonable adjustments to work condi-tions.

This, they say, will be crucial for dealing with negative attitudes towards women dealing with issues relating to the menopause, and making sure more women are able to stay in employment. “Menopau-sal women have been mocked and maligned for too long,” said the WEC chair.

Going to tribunals

In 2019, 900,000 women decided to leave their job because of a mismatch between their role and menopausal symptoms according to CIPD/Bupa research. More cases are starting to end up in court as people start to see that maybe it’s not their ‘fault’ — an employer is being unreasonable and uncaring.

HM Courts and Tribunal Service figures show a steady increase: 10 menopause-related employment tribunals in first six months of 2021 compared with 5 in 2018. Law firm Linklaters predicts 20 cases will go to tribunal in this coming year based on initial claims.

Listening first

EAPA UK chair Eugene Farrell said: “The WEC’s Menopause and the Work-place report is an important milestone in terms of changing attitudes to women in the workplace. More than ever, organisations need to find ways to keep their talent.

“Legislation provides a backbone — making sure employers have to take notice. But when it comes to the day-to-day experience of women with menopausal symptoms, what matters most is what goes on behind the ‘official’ HR processes and whether there is a feeling of trust and safety when it comes to being themselves. Do women feel they are really being listened to and understood or are they being dealt with in a mechanical way, sticking to the legal requirements?

“EAPs are so important when it comes to making sure people have someone to talk to about their tangles of work and health-related issues.”

Who’s listening to LGBT+ employees?

Around 20% of workplaces have no policy in place to support LGBT+ employees, claims a new TUC sur-vey carried out in time for Pride month (July).

Less than half of the 1,000 HR decision-makers said they had clear guidelines for reporting concerns about discrimination. Meanwhile, 15% agreed they had needed to deal with a discrimination case in-volving one or more LGBT+ employees.

A world of difference

51% said they had a policy that prohibited LGBT+ discrimination, bullying and harassment — but only 34% had reviewed the policy in the last year (and 28% that they couldn’t remember when the policy was last updated). Fewer than half those HR professionals surveyed said that family policies around adoption, maternity/paternity and shared parental leave applied equally to LGBT+ employees.

Only 13% monitored the pay gap – estimated by the TUC to be around 16%, meaning that LGBT+ staff earn £6,703 less than their non-LGBT+ peers.

In response, the TUC has called for the Government to legislate to introduce a new duty for employers to “protect all workers from harassment by customers and clients”, along with providing statutory pay gap reporting.

EAPs always listening

EAPA UK chair Eugene Farrell said: “Pride month is an opportunity for communities and employers to show their solidarity and support. But what does that mean in practice? Fair and equal treatment in terms of pay and people policies should be a given.

“There’s also the question, though, of everyday conversations and issues, the little incidents that make LGBT+ employees feel uncomfortable and isolated. The ways in which LGBT+ lives can be more complicated than non-LGBT+, and it’s not always easy or possible to talk to managers without making a big-ger issue of things. That’s when EAPs and confidential advice from a professional becomes such a valuable source of advice and reassurance.”

Can employers afford to buy their way out of financial stress?

Around 70% of employees at Rolls-Royce Holdings have received a big helping hand in dealing with financial worries caused by high inflation: a bonus and a backdated wage increase that adds up to a 9% rise. Thousands of other staff are to be given a one-off cash lump sum.

The extra staff payments are expected to cost Rolls-Royce more than £40 million.

Bills, bills, bills

The financial intervention comes at a time when all UK employees are facing a challenge to their household budgets, from sky-high energy and petrol bills, higher National Insurance payments and a general increase in prices. As a result, more people are switching jobs for higher pay, taking on more hours and working through periods of sickness.

Research by software firm CIPHR among 1,000 UK workers showed 12% had moved to better paid roles; 31% had worked longer hours or shifts because of financial worries; 12% had taken on a second job. 26% of men and 18% of women had asked for a pay rise to help cope.12% had asked for improved benefits.

How much for advice?

EAPA UK chair Eugene Farrell said: “In this new crisis for the world, every extra piece of financial support from employers is going to be a relief, particularly for staff on lower incomes. But it’s not the long-term solution. Bigger payouts only fuel inflation and the cycle goes on.

“Few employers are going to be in a position to keep up with inflation this year. And what happens next year, and the year after if levels are still high?

“Retention shouldn’t be reduced to a matter of cash. HR has to find ways to be smarter about helping people with their financial stress, encouraging engagement and loyalty. EAP services don’t involve any new costs for employers. They are an obvious and practical means of supporting people in the right ways, helping them come to terms with changes in finances, appreciate the implications, and be stronger for the long-term.”

For ESG we need the EAP

CIPD President, Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith, has called for boards to hand over responsibility to HR when it comes to meeting environmental, social and governance goals (ESG).

While ESG was now on all CEO and senior executive’s minds, they needed support and drive to take action from those closest to people issues and concerns. ESG had to be fully embedded into business objectives — or there was the real risk of being exposed in future, with serious implications for the employer brand, recruitment, retention and overall performance.

Virtue-signalling

“The more senior you get in an organisation, the less you know about the day-to-day activities of the organisation,” said Baroness McGregor-Smith at the 2022 Festival of Work. Too often this led to “virtue-signalling” where ESG just became part of the branding and promotional side of activities rather than having real meaning and being part of policies and behaviours.

She emphasised the importance of HR in taking a lead, and basing their work on more data collection on actual employee experiences, what’s behind staff choosing to leave, as well as their promotions, their wellbeing and sense of purpose within the organisation. Employees had to be feeling “empowered” by their organisation.

EAPs for all

EAPA UK chair [https://www.eapa.org.uk/] Eugene Farrell said: “Whether organisations are seen as being successful isn’t enough for either consumers and employees. The reputation of organisations is more and more dependent on their bigger role: are they really a ‘good’ influence on society, a good employer that cares about people and planet?

“More employers are being found out, and are going to be found out as not living up to their branding — making attention to staff experience a must-have for HR, and in turn, for the employer as a whole. The critical heart of this work has to be staff wellbeing and sense of purpose, feeling they can be themselves at work, are cared about as an individual human being, and are part of a community that had a shared mission.

“On a practical level, this is where EAPs and the range of services an EAP can provide — including anonymised data on trends — are an essential.”

Are employers forgetting the frontline ‘deskless’ workers?

A study among 9,000 frontline workers — healthcare staff, couriers, retail staff and chefs etc — has highlighted how 64% felt they couldn’t speak to their manager about workplace stress (let alone stresses caused by situations outside of work).

The 2022 State of the Deskless Worker report carried out by Quinyx looks at levels of engagement among ‘deskless’ staff, and how motivation and satisfaction can be increased.

The study found that 29% of frontline staff in the UK believed that improved communication with management and employees would increase their motivation — but around half felt they weren’t being listened to.

Desk-free contact

The report findings are a reminder of the particular challenges that continue to surround communications and engagement with frontline staff who aren’t part of the same kinds of office and desk-based routines — access to email, one-to-one meetings, and reminders of support services.

Frontline workers are those who have taken on the greatest pressures and risks during the Covid-19 crisis, as well as greater potential for reduced hours or redundancies in some sectors). At the same time they can feel they aren’t given the same kinds of attention and benefits as desk-based colleagues — as if retention and loyalty (and stress levels) isn’t as important an issue.

EAPs for all

EAPA UK chair Eugene Farrell said: “Many of the sectors struggling most with recruiting and retaining their staff are those relying on deskless, frontline workers — like airlines, like hospitality. And this can have serious business implications, as the travel industry is finding out.

“Building relationships between staff and line managers in HQ is harder in these situations, without being in a single location and linked together by desk communications. But there may also be lingering cultural issues here: where the benefits and perks are targeted more to higher paid, office-based professionals. Maybe, even, where ‘stress’ is only something that the senior executives have to cope with.

“Organisations should be one team. People have different roles but all should have a shared sense of purpose and be recognised for what they do. Everyone, to one degree or another, is relying on the work of others around them. The EAP is the kind of service that is open and accessible to everyone, anytime, and makes sure that everyone is listened to — whether that’s stress at work or at home.”

Are employers forgetting the frontline ‘deskless’ workers? – EAPA UK

Can the four day week put an end to burnout and poor mental health at work?

A six month project will see more than 3,300 employees at 70 companies work a four day week with no loss of pay.

The pilot runs from this month until the end of the year among a variety of employers, ranging from a seaside fish and chip shop to finance, construction, education and IT businesses. The organiser, 4 Day Week Global, is running the scheme alongside Cambridge and Oxford universities, Boston College, Autonomy and the 4 Day Week Campaign.

New frontiers for quality of life

The UK is leading the way in testing the potential of new ways of working, said 4 Day Week Global’s CEO Joe O’Connor. “As we emerge from the pandemic, more and more companies are recognising that the new frontier for competition is quality of life, and that reduced-hour, output-focused working is the vehicle to give them a competitive edge.”

Researchers will be tracking the progress of participants in terms of their wellbeing (stress and burnout), productivity, the changes in environmental footprint (travel and energy use) and issues like gender equality.

“The 20th-century concept of a five-day working week is no longer the best fit for 21st-century business,” said the chief executive of one participant, the Charity Bank. “We firmly believe that a four-day week with no change to salary or benefits will create a happier workforce and will have an equally positive impact on business productivity, customer experience and our social mission.”

Not just productivity

EAPA UK chair Eugene Farrell said: “The Covid-19 experience in itself was a huge experiment in the impact of home working and more time for friends and family. What was clear from that was how differently people reacted. For some, more free time was a golden opportunity; for others it only heightened their sense of isolation.

“The four day week will certainly improve satisfaction levels for a proportion of the workforce, provide more of a release valve for pressures. But more time off is not going to be the simple answer to the UK’s challenges around stress and mental ill-health.

“It’s very clear in the trial that employers expect to maintain, and believe they can raise, levels of productivity. In other words many staff will find they’re under more pressure to deliver outputs and results in the four days. As we all know, holidays can be a welcome relief, but they don’t mean anything has changed when we’re back to our routines. A healthy balance for employees happens when organisations understand the pressures, are willing to listen to individual concerns and be flexible in everyday ways, when there’s a culture of trust and support.”