The increasing pressure of work under lockdown

The increasing pressure of work under lockdown

Whether they’re furloughed or working from home, the pandemic is ratcheting up pressures for UK employees.

A Canada Life study has flagged increasing ‘presenteeism’, with more than a third of staff surveyed saying they’d continued to work while they were ill. Around a half had felt a greater need to be ‘present’ while WFH. Staff pointed to the pressures from higher workloads during lockdown, a lack of feelings of security and the threats from redundancy.

Another study, this time for KnowBe4, has pointed to furloughed workers unable to detach themselves from their responsibilities. 70% of people in their survey admitted to having been checking their work emails; 40% to responding to work emails: worried they were missing out on time-sensitive messages; wanting to avoid returning to an email mountain on their return to work; or just afraid of falling behind. Employees most likely to break furlough rules because of their anxiety worked in HR, education and IT.

“While HR are still able to contact staff to check on how they’re doing and keep them informed of developments in the organisation, furloughed staff who take part in any business activity are jeopardising their employer’s entitlement to state aid,” says Eugene Farrell, EAPA chair.

“During this time of so many different pressures: around finances, insecurity, isolation, physical and mental health, an EAP is an invaluable resource. For anyone, furloughed or otherwise, at home or on the front line, there’s someone to talk to, with the expertise to unpick all the tangles of personal and work issues.”