MCE Employee Wellbeing News

With this current bout of cold weather covering parts of the UK, some staff may find it difficult to get to work and query if they will get paid.

Each case is different and depends on a number of circumstance. Some staff may be unable to make the journey whilst others may be forced to stay at home to look after children whose schools are closed and take a day off work.

If you are unable to get to work or think it is not worth the effort, your employer may not pay you as usually pay is for work you have actually done and the employer is not obliged to pay you.

A review of your contract of employment may also shed some guidance as there may be some provisions covering this situation.

Some employers may choose to use their discretion and pay their staff who have been unable to get to work as a gesture of goodwill.

As you can see there are a number of possibilities including taking a days holiday with the agreement of your employer. No two companies are the same and it is therefore recommended that you discuss the position, or likely situation with your employer at an early opportunity.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that has a seasonal pattern. It is characterised by episodes of depression that recur at the same time each year.

SAD also known as ‘winter depression’ because the symptoms are more apparent during the winter.

As with other kinds of depression, two of the main symptoms of SAD are a low mood and a loss of interest in ordinary things. Other symptoms of SAD include:
•being less active •putting on weight •sleeping more

SAD sometimes affects people in the summer, although this is rare.

The symptoms of SAD often start as the days begin to get shorter in the autumn. They are worst during December, January, and February. For most people with SAD, the symptoms start to improve by spring time, then disappear.

Outlook
Like any type of depression, SAD can be a difficult condition to live with. Symptoms can make you feel tired, stressed and unhappy. However, a number of treatments and medications are available, including:

•light therapy: treatment with bright light
•talking therapies: such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
•antidepressants: medication to treat depression

The government has recently launched a campaign urging the public to learn the early signs of dementia. Several new sources have reported on the new initiative, designed to help boost early diagnosis by encouraging people to speak with their doctor if they detect the signs.

Many news sources have focused on the estimate that 6 in 10 people with dementia go undiagnosed , and that there may be up to 400,000 people in the UK who have not had their condition formally assessed.

People with dementia generally experience a decline in functioning, memory, thinking, language and judgement abilities.

The children of parents who suffer from dementia can find the deterrioration of their loved ones a very difficult situation to cope with. It is often at these times when the condition is diagnosed that it can cause worry and concern as to how it will develop with the parents or relative. Here at Marketplace Chaplains Europe, our Employee Care Team members are always available to “lend an ear” to worried employees. We are not dementia councellors, but we are able to listen and perhaps make suggestions to ease an employees concerns and frustrations. Not all employers offer these on site teams who are available to staff. Those companies who use us, know the difference it can make to their employees. If you are an employer and wish to find out more of our services, please DO make contact.

Whilst most are celebrating the New Year, for some of us, the spending activities in Decemeber leading up to Christmas are now dawning with the arrival of credit card statements. We all know of the economic problems that abound the country but the personal reality can now be upon us with perhaps limited funds available to make inroads more than a minimum credit card payment.

It is at time like this that people and families can find it stressful. Whilst there is no “instant cure” for these financial ills, for those staff priviledged enough to have an Employee Care Team in place through organisations such as Marketplace Chaplains Europe, there is a friendly face to share ones problems. Our team members are available to have confidential chats with employees and can often direct staff to specialists for further guidance.

Chaplains regularly come across staff who are carers.

Being available to listen to those staff members provides relief and release for those staff, who as soon as they leave work take on responsibilities caring for a family member.

Chaplain care teams are a great resource for carers. Often teams are able to signpost staff to local and national resources. A chaplain can make an immediate practical difference, on one occasion linking a carer into a local authority respite care resource within 24 hours.

Marketplace leader Jonathan Martin is inviting business leaders in Newcastle-on-Tyne to meet with him on 7th and 8th June. Jonathan is responding to a request from a local business. Marketplace is always swift to respond to such opportunities. We value the opportunity to improve employee wellbeing and the bottom line.

Business leaders are being invited to meet with Marketplace’s Jonathan Martin when he visits Newcastle on June 7th and 8th. Jonathan is visiting the area after an invitation from a business in the north east. MCE is swift to respond to invitations to work with business in order to improve both the bottom line, and employee well being.

A company chaplaincy service is offered to all staff and their families.

This provision of a listening ear and compassionate presence can greatly affect staff wellbeing and morale in any working environment where working pressures will vary.

Evidence from the NHS identifies the benefit that chaplaincy can offer to staff, including aiding conflict resolution. Again the financial and workforce implications that this spiritual care could offer are very positive

Terry Murphy has had over 13 years of chaplaincy experience in the fire service before joining the MCE team.

Having only started in October, he has now a employees who are reacting very positively to the having him as a chaplain around them in their workplace. He even has employees requesting to be friends on Social Network sites.

What Does A Typical Day Involve?

Working two hours a week, Terry begins by reporting to the receptionist. Here he’ll ask if there are any specific issues that he should be aware of or if any of the employees needs his immediate attention.

After that Terry begins his tour of the building, walking through the kitchen area past the maintenance man and other staff who are engaged with the daily running of the business. The staff come from predominantly Eastern Europe, although there are also a wide mixture of ethnic cultures including Muslims and Hindus on the team.

Sometimes Terry says, it may feel as if nothing much is going on. The staff are engaged in their work which obviously takes precedent. However, just as a people see a policeman on duty, they know where to turn to if they have something they need to talk about.

Terry knows that part of this is down to his visibility to the staff. He always wears the MCE badge which tells staff he is a member of the Care Team and he has noticed that as the weeks go by, so the easier it is for staff and employees to open up to him about the issues they are facing.

How Have The Employees Responded?

Recently, Terry was able to engage with a worker who emigrated from Eastern Europe. After offering several times to help, the man took Terry up on his offer of helping him sort out his child benefit.

Meeting up outside of work hours, the employee can now bring his family to come and live in the UK with him.

By continually being visible and offering genuine and sincere advice, Terry has been able to integrate himself successfully alongside the employee team. They now accept him as someone to go to as an independent ear, but more importantly they can also go to him as someone who will help them both inside the workplace and outside of it.

In his recent column for the Daily Telegraph, Lord Sugar (best known through the TV Series The Apprentice) implored small and independent business owners to return to the basics of business. All you need to balance the books he said, is a pencil and paper.

Indeed in today’s world of profit and budget forecasts, turnover underwritten by credit and all number of Excel sheets predicting business for the coming 24 months, it is easy to get lost in the fact that a business remains at the very bottom line exactly that; a business.

Lord Sugar was quoted that as he started out, he simply had weekly targets. He knew how much rent he had to pay and if he hadn’t met his overheads by the end of the week then he would have to work twice as hard the following week.

Today Auto Windshields went into administration. Another casualty in a long line of recent businesses which have become victims of our poor economic climate. It is easy to say that they were the victim of circumstance or just plain unlucky. However the truth is that just as with the banking crisis 18 months ago, it is the businesses which are built upon solid foundations which will prevail.

Often that solid foundation takes more time, patience and in some cases opportunities perceived at being lost. However, the financial security on which every business should be formed will in the end be the difference between those companies which succeed and those which fall aside.

Swapping budget forecasts for pencil and paper never hurt anyone (or business) for just one day.