Supporting staff wellbeing
It is important to actively encourage staff to:
- take regular breaks, which can include setting diary reminders to move and stretch and/or signal the end of the day. Encourage staff to have a break from the computer screen to make a drink, go for a walk etc. Regular breaks help to increase well-being and productivity
- turn off phone notifications for the evening. Support staff to set clear endpoints to the working day to enable them to be able to switch to home life and resting
- diarise when they are and are not available so other staff know when to communicate. It can be easy to forget staff working hours when they are not next to you. Ensuring that staff communicate with each other around when they are available can help to ensure that feelings of being "constantly on" or available are reduced
- While working from home has its benefits, a member of staff may also feel more isolated. There are lots of ways to stay in touch with those who matter for example, schedule video calls and pick up the phone instead of emailing. It’s important to remember other people may be feeling the same!
Support tools
As a manager, it is important to be aligned with all the support available for staff and encourage them to access and use it. For more information about wellbeing, see the below:
Alternatively, the wellbeing team can be contacted on:
Don't forget - terms and conditions apply
Members of staff working from home are subject to the same conditions of employment governing behaviour as when they are working on site. This means:
- managers still have a duty of care to staff members and need to manage the workload and flow of work that is expected to be undertaken
- staff still need to report in if they are not fit to be undertaking their work, with absences being recorded and managed appropriately
- policies and procedures still apply when undertaking work, including information governance and data protection
- If a period of homeworking needs to come to an end, either for wellbeing or service needs, the line manager and member of staff will need to discuss this and come to a decision together. Consideration will need to be given to the circumstances which have caused the arrangements to no longer be suitable and agree a timetable for the change to working arrangements. For any additional guidance, contact the People Advisory Service.