Staff health and well being policy

Mental ill health and stress are associated with many of the leading causes of disease and disability in our society. Promoting and protecting the mental wellbeing of the workforce is important for individuals’ physical health, social wellbeing and productivity.

Many factors in the workplace inﬂuence the mental wellbeing of individual employees. Understanding and addressing the factors which affect people’s wellbeing at work have a wide range of beneﬁts, both for individuals and the organisation.

Wellbeing in the workplace is relevant to all employees and everyone can contribute to improved wellbeing at work. Addressing workplace wellbeing can help strengthen the positive, protective factors of employment, reduce risk factors for mental ill health and improve general health. It can also help promote the employment of people who have experienced mental health problems, and support them once they are at work.

Mental health problems and stress can affect anyone, regardless of their position in the organisation. This policy applies equally to all employees.

As an employer we aim to create and promote a workplace environment that supports and promotes the wellbeing of all employees. We acknowledge that certain working conditions and practices can negatively affect employees’ wellbeing, including aspects of work organisation and management, and environmental and social conditions that have the potential for psychological as well as physical harm.

Aim of the policy

To create a workplace environment that promotes the health and wellbeing of all employees.

Policy actions:

Give non-judgemental and proactive support to individual staff who experience health
problems.
Deal sympathetically with staff suffering from health problems, both mental and
physical, due to circumstances outside the workplace, and who consequently ﬁnd
it difﬁcult to do their jobs properly.
Give new employees a comprehensive induction programme providing an understanding of the organisation, the established policies and procedures, and the role they are expected to carry out.
Identify all workplace stressors and conduct risk assessments to eliminate stress or
control the risks from stress. These risk assessments will be regularly reviewed.
Provide training in good management practices, including those related to health and
safety and stress management.
Provide adequate resources to enable managers to implement the organisation’s agreed workplace health and wellbeing policy.

Ensure individuals suffering from health problems are treated fairly and consistently
and are not made to feel guilty about their problems.
Encourage staff to consult their own GP, or a counsellor of their choice.
Investigate the contribution of working conditions and other organisational factors to ill health and remedy this where possible.
In cases of long-term sickness absence, put in place, where possible, a graduated
return to work.
Make every effort to identify suitable alternative employment, in full discussion
with the employee, where a return to the same job is not possible due to
identiﬁed risks or other factors.
Treat all matters relating to individual employees and their health problems in the
strictest conﬁdence and share on a ‘need to know’ basis only with consent from
the individual concerned.

Responsibilities

Everyone has a responsibility to contribute to making the workplace health and wellbeing policy effective.

Playbox Management Committee (PMC) have a responsibility to:

Monitor the workplace, identify hazards and risks and take steps to eliminate or reduce these as far as is reasonably practicable.
Assist and support employees who are known to have health problems or are experiencing stress outside work – for example due to bereavement or separation.
Ensure staff are provided with the resources and training required to carry out their
job.
Monitor workloads to ensure that people are not overloaded.
Monitor working hours and overtime to ensure that staff are not overworking, and
monitor holidays to ensure that staff are taking their full entitlement.
Ensure staff are provided with meaningful developmental opportunities.
In addition, PMC will ensure that staff performing a management or supervisory
function have sufficient competence to discharge the function in a manner
consistent with the maintenance of health and well being in the workplace.

The manager has a responsibility to:

Organise training and awareness courses on workplace health and wellbeing in conjunction with suitable experts.
Provide advice and support to employees and managers in relation to this policy.
Monitor and report on levels of sickness absence which relate to health problems including stress-related illness (in conjunction with the occupational health service).

Employees have a responsibility to:

Raise issues of concern and seek help from their manager.
Accept opportunities for counselling when recommended.
To consult their own GP, or a counsellor of their choice

This policy will be reviewed biennially

The PMC considered the draft policies and they were approved subject to some minor amendments on 17th June 2025

signed Jane Sharp – Chairperson

Information Hub