What will ‘ long-Covid ’ mean for HR?

More than 300,000 people in the UK are believed to be suffering from ‘long Covid’ – the longer-term affects of Covid-19.

Conditions vary widely and in terms of medical classification is still unknown. People have suffered commonly from ongoing loss of taste and smell and problems with breathing – but also dizziness, anxiety, blood clots and heart damage. Long-Covid is often seen to manifest itself around three months after the original virus.

Long-term issue for HR

Evidence of the impact of the condition has been seen in the explosion in numbers of people joining Long-Covid support groups. In June 2020, the Long Covid Support and Campaign had just a few hundred members – now it has 33,000.

HR bodies now fear that every employer will have a percentage of staff who will either be on long-term sick leave or need to be supported in managing their condition alongside working. Anecdotal evidence shows that people with long-Covid will want to return to work but find the effort and pressure involved causes a relapse – causing frustration and demoralisation. The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Coronavirus is calling for it to be officially recognised as an occupational disease.

Rachel Suff, senior policy adviser at the CIPD, said: “We need to get across that long Covid is not just post-virus fatigue. The employer and the manager need to have a really sensitive conversation with someone who has been diagnosed with long Covid to understand how the illness affects them personally, and the impact on them in terms of work. It must be on a case-by-case basis.” 

Ensuring psychological wellbeing

“If contracting Covid-19 wasn’t enough, believing you’ve recovered and then facing ill-health that won’t seem to go away is even more frightening,“ said EAPA UK chair Eugene Farrell.

“For HR there are a host of practical issues. Are the usual sickness processes relevant? In many organisations, taking regular short spells of sickness absence can lead to hard questions and disciplinary action. And how do you manage the usual phased return from long-term sickness? With most conditions it’s possible to know or at least talk about what the likely recovery period will involve. With long-Covid everyone is working in the dark.

“Long-Covid means the need for ongoing support, and not just in terms of physical health. EAPs will be an important resource and reassurance for HR – knowing that their people will always have access to professional support whenever they need it, to help them deal with the inevitable negative effects of long-Covid on emotional and psychological wellbeing, to see them through whatever setbacks the condition brings and allow them to make working part of their balance and recovery.”

Refusing furlough

Refusing furlough; The research suggests that 70% of requests for furlough by working mums are being turned down. As a consequence, 90% of 10 mums said their mental health had been negatively affected. Around 25% of mums claimed they were worried about losing their jobs because of their situation, becoming a convenient target for redundancy, sacked or denied hours.

Frances O’Grady, TUC general secretary, said: “Tens of thousands of mums have told us they are despairing. It’s neither possible nor sustainable for them to work as normal, while looking after their children and supervising schoolwork.”

The TUC is calling for the granting of a temporary legal right for working parents to access furlough funding.

Human professionals

EAPA UK chair Eugene Farrell said: “In principle, public funding from Government should be targeted to where it’s most needed by society, where the pain is being experienced most keenly. Furlough pay shouldn’t be another form of privilege for those already in the most comfortable situations.

“At the same time, this isn’t a problem that’s just about Government funding. Employers have a formal duty of care to their staff which extends into the home if that’s people’s place of work – as well as a broader responsibility to be aware of what it means to be WFH while also home-schooling and taking on more caring responsibilities during a serious lockdown.

“Being professional has long been assumed to include shutting out ‘irrelevant’ personal considerations and distractions, putting job demands first. Years of changing social attitudes to the role of men and women don’t seem to have had any great effect. But the experiences of Covid-19 should have brought about changes. Because being professional should include being human and unselfish, being able to balance work/life responsibilities, wanting to share the duties and burdens of partners and family members.”

Refusing furlough, Eugene Farrell

Should anti-vaxxers be banned from workplaces?

Anti-vaxxers: Around 38% of the 13,000 professionals surveyed by Nature Medicine in November said they would ignore the advice from an employer to receive a Covid-19 vaccination.

Significantly, that would mean the UK wouldn’t be able to meet the WHO recommendation, the need for two-thirds of the population to be vaccinated in order for the pandemic threat to come to an end.

Growing activism

The statistic is just one signal of a mixed picture of attitudes to how the UK should move forward to end the crisis. Activism is growing internationally among groups who believe coronavirus restrictions have been out of proportion with the health risks, and have caused more harm than good in terms of lost jobs, isolation and damage to mental health.

London has seen a series of protest marches, including those led by the Save Our Rights UK group, calling for more protection for people’s rights, privacy, family life and medical freedoms. 

Under current regulations, employers cannot insist that employees take a vaccine; and there has been no indication, so far, of any sectors planning to introduce a requirement, even in healthcare.

Diversity still matters

“Everyone wants 2021 to see a return to something more like normal life,” says EAPA UK chair Eugene Farrell. “There may be different views about how that can best happen, but employers need to ensure all of that spirit of togetherness during times of adversity, of being a community that supports each other and shares its challenges, isn’t lost.

“Respecting diversity of opinions can be as important as respecting other kinds of diversity. There are many different reasons why someone won’t want to take a vaccine once they become available – due to a pre-existing conditions or fears about side effects and implications for mental health. Under current rules, any employer who asks an anti-vaxxer not to come into work would be subject to a discrimination claim.

“Again, it’s when there are heightened tensions like these that EAPs are so important. Helping more people deal with their anxieties means employees as a community are more tolerant, more willing to listen to and understand the needs of others, to be trusting of their employer. That way, everyone stays positive, even if we don’t share the same views.”

Cut hours not people and prevent a mental health crisis, says the University of Cambridge

Some level of employment – even just one day a week – plays a fundamental role in securing mental wellbeing and prevent a mental health crisis, according to new research. 

The Cambridge sociologists found that UK employees who were either furloughed or shifted to a part-time position during April and May 2020 were at the same risk of poor mental health as full-time colleagues. But those who’d lost all their working hours were twice as likely to suffer from poor mental wellbeing. The work was carried out as part of the Employment Dosage project among more than 7,000 UK people.

Sharing hours

In the wake of their findings, researchers have called for the UK government to encourage more employers to share out available working hours rather than cut jobs. This would be in line with the ‘short-time working’ approach being used across Europe – seen as a less expensive option than furlough schemes and less likely to cause a long-term legacy of damage to mental health from redundancies.

“As well as the individual misery caused, the costs of poor mental health to the UK’s productivity and health service are vast, and cannot be afforded at this critical time,” said Professor Brendan Burchell.

Stay together

EAPA chair Eugene Farrell said: “We’ve always known that while workplaces can be a serious source of stress, any negatives are far outweighed by the benefits. Being part of a team, sharing a mission, overcoming challenges, the recognition and status; as well as all the day-to-day pleasures that come from just being among people, being part of something together, even if it’s only digitally for the moment.
“That’s what EAPs have been doing all these years: helping people stay at work, able to keep the benefits from being in work and contributing, while also managing to deal with all kinds of personal issues. EAPs help save people from long term absence. Getting the equilibrium right, between work and home lives, is going to be essential to everyone as we work our way though the pandemic age.”

No let-up in the Covid-19 effect on employee wellbeing  

Almost 60% of UK employees believe their wellbeing was negatively affected over the past month.

That’s according to a survey of 6,273 staff by benefits firm Perkbox which pointed to the impact of planned changes to the furlough scheme and uncertainty over job security and increased levels of stress and anxiety.

46% of the employees involved have highlighted how feelings of isolation and disconnection from their employer haven’t helped. 38% flagged how their general physical wellbeing had been negatively affected. Just 15% said they had seen no negative impact on their wellbeing.

The survey also pointed to growing strains being created by staff needing to cover for colleagues who were furloughed or self-isolating. 19% said they’d needed to work harder. 11% admitted to feeling resentful about the situation.

In response to the findings, Rachel Suff, senior employment relations adviser at the CIPD, has emphasised the need for greater support for people managers: ”More responsibility has been put on line managers… [with] expectations they will be able to support people’s health and wellbeing and manage staff, but this isn’t matched by an investment in training managers.”

“The unprecedented nature of the Covid-19 environment is creating a host of new and complex stresses and strains for workplaces and HR,” says EAPA chair Eugene Farrell. “Existing issues have been amplified, a heap of new anxieties have been added to them.

“Good, regular communications from line managers is imperative – people need to know, as much as possible, where they stand. But managers can’t be expected – and don’t have the expertise – to handle all the individual issues and crises that occur for staff in their private worlds. They need to be able to identify when there’s an issue and guide team members towards the range of professional advice available from an EAP, not as the emergency option, but as an everyday source of people who will listen and help.”

Employers predict WFH is here to stay

The number of employees WFH is expected to double compared with pre-pandemic figures, according to a CIPD survey of employers.

The findings come in the week when the Prime Minister announced that advice to employers was changing from 1 August. Rather than encouraging people who could work from home to do so, organisations should now make their own judgment on who was safe to come back to workplaces. Whitehall is expected to set an example by returning “thousands” of civil servants back to their usual office desks.

Surveying 1,046 UK employers, the CIPD found that 37% of staff were expected to be WFH on a regular basis once the crisis is ‘over’. This compares with 18% of employees who had been WFH regularly before lockdown restrictions were imposed. Employers predicted that the proportion of staff WFH full-time will increase from 9% pre-lockdown to 22%.

Current employment legislation requires new employees to have worked for their organisation for at least 26 weeks before being eligible for flexible working. In the wake of its findings on the importance of WFH, the CIPD is calling for a change in legislation to make the ability to request flexible working a right from the first day of new employment. At the same time, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has reportedly been talking in terms of WFH becoming “the norm”.

“Home working has clearly been an important and sensible part of keeping more people safe during the Covid-19 pandemic,” said EAPA chair Eugene Farrell. “It’s also seen as an opportunity to help with workforce diversity, helping people with caring responsibilities, mobility issues or health concerns to have more of a level playing-field in their access to work. But as a long-term trend WFH is not an easy solution.

“Different people and personalities have responded to the lockdown experience of WFH very differently. A great part of the appeal of jobs and careers is how they provide a balance – time away from home, social contact, a stimulating mix of changes of scenery, challenges and rewards. Most of all, a structure. 

“While a relatively short period of WFH felt like a break for many employees, with no commute and more free time, a full-time or regular reliance on being at home will be a test of psychological and physical resilience, intense pressures on home life and relationships, a real need for employees to find ways to create their own new balance. Whether people are returning to workplaces or staying at home, support services like EAPs will be invaluable in helping people stay on top of multiple challenges and reach a workable, positive new way forward.”

Preparing for the return to work

While the official lockdown is easing, the return to workplaces is cautious and will come with substantial changes according to a new People Management poll. 

Of the 500 HR professionals surveyed, 55% believed staff would continue working from home. So far, only 4% of the employers had asked any staff to return to work since the change on 11 May. 24% were waiting for explicit guidance from the Government for its specific sector before changing their work-from-home regime.

In terms of post-pandemic plans, 67% plan to alter their workplace layout to help ensure social distancing (40% aim to promote back-to-back rather than side-to-side or face-to-face seating); 54% intend to stagger shift patterns; 53% fewer and shorter meetings. 19% will introduce temperature checking at entrances. Only 6% are considering the introduction of their own regular Covid-19 testing.

“Whenever the majority of employees eventually return to their workplaces, they are going to find themselves in a different environment, with different practices and routines,” says EAPA chair Eugene Farrell.

“We know from long experience that one of the most important sources of reassurance and comfort for people suffering from any form of psychological stress is a sense of normality. Being back at work. Chatting to colleagues. Falling back into comfortable routines with their little ups and downs. But this isn’t going to happen in any easy kind of way.

“In other words, going back to ‘normal’ work will be another jolt, a new realisation of the extent of the effects of the crisis. People will have to get used to more change and uncertainty before they can settle again.

“Under these circumstances, any existing worries, pressures from home or work, can be exacerbated. Nothing is so simple as dealing with one single issue – and that’s where EAPs come into their own, in unpicking knots of personal and work-related challenges and providing a breadth of knowledge and expertise to help people keep moving forward, to feel stronger and more secure in coping with each change and new development.”

Eight Key Strategies to Prepare and Support Employees Returning to Work

Caroline Ribeiro-Nelson, Executive board member of EAPA UK, Head of Free Choices: Mental Health & Well-being Consultant, Psychotherapist, Coach & Trainer

The easing of lockdown and a gradual return to work means employees and businesses are faced with a major new challenge. How can they prepare for a safe and effective return to work? 

Sustainable strategies demand the recognition of a number of factors: understanding and responding adequately to stakeholder expectations; the safety requirements for physical and mental health; as well as addressing the psychological impact of this crisis. All of these are crucial in supporting employees to re-enter and engage confidently with their work. 

A significant starting point is the acceptance that a return to work, for many people, will not be ‘business as usual’. Working practices will need to change. It is also important to be aware that individuals will react very differently to challenging events, so leaders and managers need to be prepared for a range of different responses.

1. Acknowledge employee needs and the impact of the crisis: leaders and managers need to keep in mind the range of psychological and emotional consequences of the present crisis: making a clear acknowledgment of the situation, its impact, and the continuing risks helps to express the that a sense of responsibility for the workforce has been recognised and helps to enlist joint co-operation.

2. Check-in and offer emotional support: leaders and managers should also take time to check-in on employees and find out how they are doing. Empathy is an essential part of how to express a genuine understanding and interest in the experience and welfare of others. Listening, acknowledging how the situation could be impacting people and offering appropriate support services helps to reduce feelings of fear and promote a sense of security.

3. Ensure you have open and continuous communication: one of the most helpful and essential processes, particularly when dealing with crisis situations, is providing employees with relevant information on their work, as well as the business status, keeping people regularly updated. In seeking to reassure and reduce anxiety and uncertainty, employers can provide support by giving a clear explanation of changes to work routines and expectations, along with details on how the situation is being managed.

In responding to the Covid-19 crisis it is particularly important to communicate clearly the health and safety measures put in place to protect the welfare of employees. People need to have confidence that someone is taking responsibility and that action is being taken to address the situation in the best way possible.

4. Understand expectations and remain flexible: there is a need to listen, acknowledge and wherever possible try to accommodate reasonable expectations. That means respectfully expressing what can be done rather than focusing too much on what cannot be done. Being flexible and making reasonable work adjustment are vital to being supportive, as well as gaining optimal engagement and productivity. Businesses should consider the possibility of flexible conditions relating to work hours, working from home, employee roles and tasks, time off, adaptation of working practices and provision of any necessary resources. 

5. Review and establish your business processes: businesses should ensure that comprehensive and up to date policies and procedures are established, specifying defined regulations and resolution strategies. Enabling businesses to perform at optimal level involves having people and operating systems that are adaptable and flexible, that can be part of a problem-solving approach. Employees are then fully informed and can function within an effective structure with clear guidance. 

6. Match present demands and needs with appropriate responses: following any crisis, businesses should be committed to getting things back on track as safely and quickly as possible. Identifying the present demands and needs of employees and responding in a direct and practical manner actively supports this process. It also contributes to building a strong and positive company culture based on a sense of trust and psychological safety.

7. Navigate a new course: if businesses are to maintain direction and respond successfully to the needs of employees and the demands of the situation, then an openness to different ways of doing things is an absolute necessity. Progress can be held back by insisting on sticking to a rigid course and not adapting working practices. Recognising when something is no longer necessary or fit for purpose and altering direction serves to constructively optimise an employees’ return to work. Leaders and managers can develop and implement changes through lessons learnt, good practice, continuous feedback and a clear complaints and corrective measures process.

Connect and utilise external professional services: post-crisis, people can often feel fearful or apprehensive about returning to work. Collaborating and building new partnerships with relevant professionals and organisations can help with innovation, a greater sense of safety, engagement and increased productivity, as well as bring about the creation of stronger and more effective support structures. Most importantly this can promote the positive health and wellbeing of leadership and employees.