Don’t suspended employees need access to an EAP?

Don’t suspended employees need access to an EAP?

When employees are suspended due to disciplinary action, they fall into a hole of worry and stress. And that means serious implications for their mental health — and risks for HR in terms of their duty of care.

ACAS guidelines are explicit about what’s expected. An employer needs to deal with any disciplinary case as quickly as possible; and be completely transparent about the process. That means making sure the employee knows exactly why they’ve been suspended, what the process is going to be, and kept updated on what’s happening.

But evidence from our work and colleagues in the EAP sector suggests this isn’t happening. Suspensions can often be a woolly, drawn out process, where support is limited. People end up being stranded: cut off from their colleagues and workplace routines, not given access to an EAP. Cases are dragged out for month after month — because they’re an awkward challenge for management to deal with, typically involving sensitive, personal situations and experiences. Uncomfortable and a drain on management time.

There are inevitable consequences for people undergoing a suspension in terms of their mental health. And let’s remember that these are employees who are yet to have been found guilty of anything, there’s just an accusation or a problem come to light. Very few cases involve intentional, malicious activity. It’s just been a mistake of some kind or another — and we all make mistakes.

Meanwhile this kind of stress over months can lead to anxiety and depression. There are feelings of shame and humiliation, so people don’t feel able to talk to friends or family about what’s happening, and the pressure keeps building up. Anecdotally there are cases where people have felt suicidal as a result of their situation — and this is only the tip of the iceberg, because EAP counsellors, in principle, only hear from employees who are coping and have reached out for support. What is happening to all those who don’t have access to an EAP and aren’t coping?

HR need to be mindful that they still have a duty of care for employees who have been suspended. Employees have a right to confidentiality, a clear process, ongoing contact and updates. Most of all — for the sake of employees going through an intensely difficult time, and for the relationship with their organisation — an EAP and its services needs to be signposted as part of the standard process of a disciplinary action and suspension.

Jayne Andrews, Clinical Lead and Counselling Services Manager, Smart Clinic