Wellness at Work

[jelly79]

What do your company do to support wellness. Positively? Mental health support?

Either in work or any work at home support

AIBU to think that our employers have more responsibilities these days to support their employees

Employers are not trained in supporting mental health problems though

My team have various problems and our company are all over this wellness at work.... but the managers are left to wade through it all ourselves. All I'm doing is being 'mum' at work too.

We have a employee support programme, fat lot of good it was. My work had to lodge a complaint because of the way I was treated.

We can refer on but we have to gather initial info.... and persuade the colleague to engage. We also have to manage frontline problems. Someone crying,unable to be on shopfloor....I can't send them home, they have to tell me they are going home but many are teens who don't want parents knowing

We were supposed to be having one of us as a 'mental health first aider'

I do think YABU to expect total commitment to this from employees. However yanbu to choose employers eho actively who support mental health. I do think all employers should at least be aware of how to support staff well.

why more responsibility 'these days' though?

I work in the NHS frontline. There are loads of wellbeing initiatives - art classes, cards to send to colleagues wtc.

What's missing is enough staff to do the job properly and not push staff to burnout.

Jobs no longer seem to pay a living wage/ give job security and bleed staff dry. That's why there is a well being push. It's a sticking plaster over declining quality of life.

My work plays lip service with silly initiatives but the reality is there is too much work for the number of staff we have and therefore everyone is stressed.

Curious about this 4 day working week that’s being piloted. That would help hugely. Forget about token gestures, just less time spent working would be a game changer

@Ghostofchristmaspasty I also work for NHS. During the height of covid madness, we got emails every day about wellness sessions. "Come and relax during your afternoon tea break!"
I had to ask to be removed from the mailing list as I got angrier everyday at my lack of afternoon tea break. It sounds petty now but at the time it really annoyed me. But now they can claim that they offered these support sessions, even though they made no effort to release staff to attend them.

AIBU to think that our employers have more responsibilities these days to support their employees

Employers don’t replace your parents in adulthood, so no.

If mental health issues are extreme you would hope they would notice. If they are demonstrably as a result of your work role than yes they have a responsibility.

Employers are responsible for health and safety, not 'wellness'.
Or do you actually mean wellbeing?

My work:
Subscribes to EAP programme meaning all employees can confidentially access counseling for free

Offers 4 quarterly days per year on top of regular leave entitlement to be used however you want but intended to take the pressure off in life generally

Provides free yoga and gym circuit sessions for whoever wants them

Is open to flexible hours to make work life balance a thing

Endorsed having a regular wfh day (pre pandemic) for all

Does not clock watch or expect you to account for every single second of your day. We are treated as grown ups who can be expected to manage our workload and it's fine if we need to run the odd errand or have a slightly longer lunch occasionally

Provide facilities for those who want to exercise or build it into their commute

Have a decent kitchen so employees can make or store healthy meals

Have managers who aren't afraid to talk about their own personal and professional challenges so it's not stigmatized and everyone knows that they will be dealt with compassionately.

@spottygymbag
Wow this sounds amazing and similar to my employer. There are. Lot of initiatives that don't hit the mark too but really trying.

@GirlInACountrySong ah great question. I was probably more referring to post covid / more people working from home in some industries. I've noticed my employer working really hard in this are more recently