Mental Health – Reasonable Adjustments
Despite the fact that ACAS published their guidance aimed at helping employers and employees to understand workplace adjustments for mental health at the end of April 2023 this year, I have discovered that this is still not well known. It is for this reason that I have chosen to highlight it again in case anyone has missed it.
Many of my employer clients are sympathetic to those suffering from mental health issues and/or who are neurodiverse, but they are at a loss as to what to offer to help by way of reasonable adjustments. Also when acting on the other side of the fence for employees, a common response from employers has been to ask the individual what they think might be something that could help them – often this adds to the stress or anxiety that may have already been present.
The ACAS guidance does not re-invent the wheel and some of the explanations given are relatively obvious. However it is the examples of reasonable adjustments which I consider to be useful not least because some of these are not the ones that you might immediately suggest such as allowing someone to work altered hours, travel in after rush hour or sit in a more peaceful spot. The examples drill down a little more than that, for example breaking down the work into short term tasks, reviewing deadlines and reducing customer facing work. Of course it is always important not to jump to a one size fits all situation and to still involve the employee, but as with putting all the onus on an at risk employee to find their own alternative position, you should not do the same for an already vulnerable employee! Furthermore and very important in this hybrid working environment, adjustments should be made wherever the employee works.
If you need more detailed guidance on a specific case please reach out to me on laura.livingstone@smb.london.
Other Insights
-
9th January 2025LLMs – The Great Data Heist
Large Language Models (LLMs) are a type of artificial intelligence (AI) that use deep learning algorithms to understand and generate text, images and videos in a way that mimics similar outputs created by humans, basing its responses on the vast quantities of data they are trained on. While LLMs can generate creative text formats, legal documents, or summarise information, they are not designed to be inherently truthful or unbiased and can generate inaccurate or misleading content
Read more -
28th November 2024Advanced Subscription Agreements
An Advance Subscription Agreement (ASA) is a financial arrangement between an investor and a company, often a startup or early-stage business. Under this agreement, the investor pays in advance for shares that will be issued at a later date, typically during the company's next funding round.
Read more -
26th November 2024Protecting Your Business’s Value: Why Change of Control Provisions Matter for Founders
For many founders, securing a strong customer base is central to their company’s long-term value. But what happens when the business is sold, and a key contract allows customers to walk away? This is where Change of Control provisions come into play. Too often overlooked during negotiations, these clauses can have serious ramifications for both your company's valuation and your future business prospects. Here's why founders should carefully consider these provisions.
Read more