‘Employee Wellbeing Policy’ Incorporating Absence ...

1 The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Employment Policies and procedures Employee Wellbeing policy Incorporating Absence management Procedure Version No.: Effective Date: 01 April 2012 Expiry Date: 31 March 2015 Date Ratified: 21 March 2012 Ratified by: Executive Team 1. Introduction This policy has been developed to enable the Trust to manage its obligations assisting its employees to maintain their physical and mental health and Wellbeing . 2. Scope The policy applies to all employees of the Trust 3. Aim The aim of the policy is to describe the commitment of the Trust to employee health, the responsibilities of managers and others to supporting employee Wellbeing in its broadest, holistic sense, and the Trust s commitment to addressing individual issues.

2 The Trust is committed to providing a rewarding working environment where employees are fully motivated to contribute to the delivery of the highest quality healthcare and achieve job satisfaction. The objective is to create a workplace which foster s personal responsibility and engagement to contribute to the achievement of the Trust objectives. Every employee of the Trust is expected to attend work on the days they are required for duty and to perform their duties to the highest possible standard. The Trust recognises that employees may need to take time off work due to ill health, or receive appropriate health-related support and assistance to enable them to fulfil their role effectively.

3 The Absence management Procedure is outlined in Appendix A. The Trust recognises that a wide range of factors can influence an employee s Absence levels including motivation, personal commitments, demands external to the workplace, workload, or working conditions. Page 1 of 34 The Trust will take whatever steps are reasonably practicable and use available information about employee Absence to help inform decisions on what action to take to maximise attendance at work. This will include: regular review and action of reports on sickness Absence , accidents and incidents; return to work interviews following Absence ; acting on the outcome of risk assessments/ work place assessments and Health & Safety Audits; acting on the findings of the annual Staff Attitude Survey.

4 Continuation of the Improving Working Lives initiative and investment in fitness facilities working with the Occupational Health Service that also incorporates staff support services such as Physiotherapy, Smoking Cessation, Counselling and Psychology to provide an integrated employee Wellbeing service to support good attendance at work developing health education programmes and promotion initiatives to raise awareness of health and lifestyle impacting on mental health and Wellbeing and the concept of a healthy lifestyle. A number of programmes are available from the Occupational Health Service. 4 Duties roles and responsibilities The Executive Team is accountable to the Trust Board for ensuring Trust-wide compliance with policy .

5 Directorate managers and heads of service are responsible to the Executive Team for ensuring policy implementation. Managers are responsible for ensuring policy implementation and compliance in their area(s). Staff are responsible for complying with policy . Staff Representatives 5. Employees Employees are responsible for managing their own health and Wellbeing . This will be evident through adopting positive health behaviours ( in relation to diet, alcohol consumption or smoking) to ensure they are fit to meet the requirements of their role, and informing the Trust if they believe their work or the working environment is becoming difficult to manage.

6 It is important to emphasise that only by sharing such information that the organisation can identify steps to support and supervise. Any health related information disclosed through discussions with managers or the Human Resources Department is Page 2 of 34 treated in confidence. Health information disclosed to the Occupational Health Service will be treated as medical information in accordance with the Medical Records Act 1988. All employees will be encouraged to participate in communication activities and support the Trust in identifying and making improvements to the working environment. Employees are given the opportunity to participate in audits and surveys to provide such feedback to the Trust.

7 Where an employee is absent due to ill health, they must not undertake anything, as defined by the Trust that could exacerbate or prolong the condition. 6. Line Managers Managers will be expected to implement measures to minimise risk to employee Wellbeing , and will be expected to be familiar with the content of this policy . Managers will be expected to understand how they can support the creation of an appropriate working environment by ensuring; a good match between individuals recruited to perform a job and the requirements of that job; the working environment is assessed to remain appropriate and fit for purpose; employees receive appropriate training, supervision and support at work, and work is allocated appropriately between team members; they are available to enable employees to approach them with concerns about their job and how to resolve these.

8 Employees receive feedback on their performance and are kept updated with developments at work and share an understanding of how this may impact on their jobs and workloads; employees have an appropriate level of authority and control over their work 7. Human Resources The Human Resources Department is expected to develop appropriate policies and procedures to facilitate the Wellbeing of employees, enable line managers to support their employees, and liaise as appropriate with relevant professionals to support employees to attend work and maintain good physical and mental health. Training The Education and Training function will identify and facilitate the provision of appropriate programmes to support this aim, and will support the delivery of appropriate training needs identified from discussions with employees in relation to their job demands.

9 This may be through the appraisal process. Discussions related to individual training needs will support employees ensure they have the necessary skills to perform their job, provide feedback on performance and create an opportunity through which to raise concerns. Page 3 of 34 Managers will be required to attend appropriate training provided by the Trust to enable them to meet their responsibilities in regard to employee Wellbeing . 8. Occupational Health The Occupational Health Service has a responsibility to support the Trust in promoting, maintaining and improving the physical and mental well being of employees. For this reason staff may at any time seek advice from the Occupational Health Service if they feel they have a health or associated problem arising out of their working situation.

10 The role of the Occupational Health Service is to provide advice and support to the Trust and its employees to promote their health and Wellbeing and assist them to remain at work or return to work after experiencing health problems. In addition, the service seeks to assist employees to maximising their performance at work thereby assisting the Trust to achieve its objectives. The Occupational Health Service also supports the development of rehabilitation plans for returning to work after ill-health related Absence , and works with the Trust in ensuring such rehabilitation is successful. They will also provide opinions about fitness and the appropriateness of any agreed phased return to work to the Trust.