With the news reports we are all seeing daily of bombings, destruction and the refugee crisis in Ukraine, it’s a worrying time for all but more significantly so for those who have family or friends in Ukraine and/or Russia and these employees need supporting.
Each person will be affected to a greater or lesser degree so it’s important for employers to consider how they can support the mental health and wellbeing of these employees with a compassionate approach.
You may have other employees too who may be concerned about the implications from a wider perspective such as Russian citizens in the UK fearing reprisal or those of other nationalities with heightened concern about the future.
So here are a few tips for how you can support your people:
1. Make it clear that managers are available to listen where employees are concerned and discuss any issues they are having. Openly encourage employees who are struggling to talk to their manager.
2. Allow those employees with family and friends in Ukraine and/or Russia to keep in regular contact with them to check on their welfare. This may mean allowing personal phone calls during working hours, flexing break times or having more regular breaks to make calls.
3. If you have an employee who is really struggling, consider offering counselling or an Occupational Health review.
4. In a worst-case scenario of any bereavement, allow any affected employees compassionate leave and be prepared to grant time off at short notice.
5. Consider implementing an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support mental health and wellbeing. If you already have one, communicate and remind employees that it’s available.
6. You might have employees who have different views about what’s happening which could cause conflict in the workplace. Think about what you can put in place to allow employees to talk about the situation and how they’re affected.
7. Change any business travel arrangements if you had any employees planning to travel to Russia or Ukraine. You have a duty of care.
8. Lastly, there is a possibility that as the crisis continues, Ukrainian or Russian citizens could be called up for active duty in their home countries. Whether you allow this is purely discretionary. However, be prepared that you may have employees who have a strong desire to go and help so think about how you might manage this. You could consider granting special leave for a period reviewing the situation in a fixed period, for example.
In a practical sense, you could share with your employees information on the government’s support for asylum claimants and refugees, which includes contact details for asylum support, refugee integration loans, and more.
There are also lots of humanitarian appeals and charities set up to help support the people of Ukraine which you could share with your employees helping them feel they can contribute in a meaningful way. Here are a few examples:
UK Disasters Emergency Committee: Ukrainian Humanitarian Appeal
Support Ukraine NOW: Donate, send humanitarian supplies.
Ukraine Donation Points in and around Poole (totalguidetopoole.com)
Defend Ukraine, a repository for a range of charities and fundraisers established to assist with the conflict
Heidi Skirrow
Director of Skora HR Ltd
contact@skorahr.co.uk | 0330 056 3664
www.skorahr.co.uk