What will the Employment Rights Bill do for wellbeing?

What will the Employment Rights Bill do for wellbeing?

Employee health and productivity is clearly on the Government’s radar — as demonstrated by its high-profile plan to offer more access to weight loss injections as a means of getting people struggling with obesity back into work. But, as wellbeing professionals know, it’s critical that an employee health strategy is focused on dealing with causes of ill-health and not just symptoms.

Among the 28 reforms there are a number aimed towards increasing feelings of security. One proposal will remove the two-year qualifying period for protection from unfair dismissal; others ensure new recruits have the same rights from day one of their employment: access to paternity leave, parental leave, bereavement leave and statutory sick pay, as well as the right to ask for flexible working. People working on zero-hours or low-hours contracts will have the right to guaranteed working hours if they work regular hours over a defined period (with the suggestion that the qualifying period is set at 12 weeks). It was disappointing that announcements around the Bill have not included what would have been the most significant step forward: the planned ‘right to switch off’, to finally help address the impact of digital working and its pressures. Instead, there is expected to be advice and guidance rather than the kind of legislation introduced by Australia and Ireland.

Taking on people with more rights, who are even harder to move on if they’re not working out, isn’t attractive. So some employers might well want to cut back on recruitment plans, and be far more cautious when it comes to who they recruit — meaning higher workloads for established staff, more use of AI and automation. Employers might well also feel they have to get tougher on performance and outputs, to make sure they are getting a fair return on all the extra rights they’re offering.

Organisations need to get to the root of problems. How aware are most employers of the detail of their wellbeing landscape? The reasons their staff are absent or not performing, which teams or areas are struggling with workload pressures, with questions over management styles, problems with relationships, or escalating worries over finances. Is their training for managers to hold constructive, productive return to work, leavers and 1:1 sessions with their team? How can people best be supported so that they feel part of something?

It’s in this context that EAPs can be used as an early warning system. More wellbeing services and benefits clearly haven’t been the answer. A tailored approach, with OH and HR working closely with their EAP provider and accessing its bank of insights to identify real needs can lead to the tangible outcomes needed, lower levels of stress and more engaged and motivated people.

Karl Bennett, chair, EAPA UK (Employee Assistance Professionals Association), www.eapa.org.uk