Law firm offers 6 top tips on reasonable adjustments for mental health issues
To coincide with Mental Health Awareness week HR news have released their top 6 tips for reasonable adjustments for mental health issues in the workplace.
Mental health issues are becoming an increasingly talked-about topic, but it can be difficult for employers to identify, support and manage employees suffering from mental health problems. Not handling these situations correctly can lose your business money, productivity and overall employee well being.
Many employers struggle with what is required of them when it comes to the duty to make reasonable adjustments, so here are 6 tips to help:
- Seek medical evidence as to whether an employee is disabled for the purposes of the Equality Act and what adjustments could help them in their role.
- Consider whether any of your policies or practices could put an employee suffering from mental health issues at a particular disadvantage compared to other employees.
- Offer to make reasonable adjustments in order to alleviate those specific disadvantages.
- Work and communicate with the employee to ensure that they are happy with any adjustments being made for them and feel able to talk to you about their needs.
- Keep the situation under review: do not assume that a mental health issue has disappeared just because an employee outwardly appears better.
- Remember that the key is acting “reasonably”. Employers do not have to go to impossible lengths to accommodate disabled employees, but they do have to make adjustments that are reasonable in the circumstances.
If you need advice on the issue of mental health adjustments & generally dealing with this subject in your workplace, check out our website & this week’s blog. HPC are a UK leading specialist in Employment law, HR and Health and Safety Services, contact us on the form below or call us on 0843 509 4543.
For the full HR news article please follow this link.
