There has been a greater need for employers to have a better understanding of an employee’s home life during the Coronavirus pandemic, as we all worked from home to help reduce the virus’ transmission. Employers may now have knowledge of an employee’s parental caring responsibilities, for example, that they were previously unaware of. This may have resulted in significant stress for those employees as they found themselves having to balance work requirements with caring for children who were suddenly at home full-time.

With National Work Life Week approaching (11-15 October 2021), organised by Working Families, it’s the ideal time for employers to consider their legal obligations for a successful work-life balance. In this briefing, Pam Loch considers how employers’ obligations can be balanced with the risk of becoming too involved in the personal lives of employees.

What the law says
Employees are increasingly more alert to the importance of a work-life balance, especially with fewer employees physically commuting into the office every day. There is no specific legislation requiring employers to facilitate a healthy work-life balance:

• Under health and safety legislation, employers are obliged to protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees and this extends to physical and mental wellbeing too.
• The Working Time Regulations 1998 place an obligation on employers to ensure employees have specific rest periods.
• There is also a limit on working hours of 48 hours a week unless the employee has opted out and agreed with their employer to work longer hours.

Does there need to be more regulation to achieve work-life balance? In Ireland the ‘right to disconnect’ was introduced this year, which is intended to give employees the right to disengage from work outside of their normal working hours. While this has not been introduced in the UK, there have been campaigns to introduce legislation to help staff to switch off and protect their mental health.

Blurring of the boundaries between work and life
Some companies have taken it upon themselves to block access to emails before 8am and after 6pm to help employees achieve a better work-life balance. However, some employees would like access to emails after hours when their children are in bed and so preventing access could be more stressful for them.

Inevitably, during the last 18 months, employers have learnt more about employees’ personal lives, especially for office workers who have been communicating via video calls. Now managers may be aware of the type of accommodation employees are living in, who they live with and any additional caring responsibilities, which may not have been revealed previously. Some employees may also have disclosed health conditions, as a result of self-isolation or being at greater risk of COVID-19, which employers were not aware of prior to the pandemic. The boundaries that existed previously have disintegrated and employees may be wondering if their professional and private lives have become intrinsically linked, or if this information is genuinely necessary.

Employees will have a legitimate expectation that information that has been disclosed, especially in relation to health conditions, will remain confidential.

Supporting employees
Employees who are carers at home may have previously been reluctant to disclose this information due to concerns about how it will affect their employment relationship and to separate their work and personal lives. There is no legal requirement for an employee to disclose caring responsibilities; however, creating a culture that invites employees to tell their managers information that may affect their working life will allow employers to offer appropriate support and retain staff. It may be necessary to train managers on how to address these issues and concerns in a supportive way. If managers do not feel confident having conversations about employees’ personal lives then you could appoint either an HR consultant or HR medical specialist to speak to the employee to find out more and understand their concerns. It’s important to remember that there is no one-size-fits-all approach here when considering personal and professional lives as you will need to consider the employee’s specific circumstances.

Benefits of a work-life balance
While employers must comply with obligations to look after health and wellbeing there are numerous other benefits that can be derived from facilitating a successful work-life balance, including reducing absenteeism, increasing productivity, and retaining valuable employees, especially in tight labour markets where recruitment is very challenging. It is also important to provide this support to retain the best talent as a recent survey conducted by mental health start-up Spill found that 29% of UK workers considered quitting their jobs in the last 12 months due to poor mental health, highlighting the importance of taking work-life balance seriously.

It is time for employers to review what they have been doing and take steps to consider the work-life balance employees benefit from, the culture it creates within the business, and how they approach this with their employees to the benefit of all.

Jane van Zyl, CEO of Working Families, added:

“We’re seeing the best employers use a combination of good policy provision and a focus on building a culture of wellbeing to make sure their staff teams are supported effectively. It’s important to make sure policies around flexible working and parental leave are visible and available to all staff.

“It’s important to support flexible working for everyone in the organisation from day one of employment. Managers need to have the skills and confidence to have open conversations so that they can find an arrangement that suits the business needs and the caring responsibilities of the individual. That means discussing opportunities for flex at interview, through induction and at regular reviews.

“But for any policies to work effectively, organisations need to work to foster an open, supportive culture so that employees feel able to discuss their work-life balance with their manager. Role modelling flexible working by senior management is really important here, as is visible support for flexible, family-friendly working from the highest level of the organisation.”

Pam Loch, Employment Law Solicitor and Managing Director of Loch Employment Law
Pam.loch@lochassociates.co.uk