Sick leave increases & managing mental health in the workplace

Increase to Sick leave entitlements

From 24 July the sick leave entitlement increases to 10 days per year.  The extra 5 days is applied after the completion of 6 months continuous employment, or on the next sick leave entitlement anniversary (12 months after the previous entitlement).  This means that anyone employed after 24 January 2021 will be entitled to 10 days sick leave.

The amount of sick leave that can be accumulated remains at 20 days unless more generous entitlement is allowed in the employment agreement.

Our employment agreement templates have been updated to reflect the changes.

Mental Health in the workplace

In the last year we have noticed a marked increase in queries about how to manage employees who present with or disclose mental health issues.

While we can’t assist with the clinical side we do have information on HealthyPractice about dealing with the employment side at this link(once logged on) https://www.healthypractice.co.nz/members/human-resources/leave/sick-leave/managing-mental-health-issues-workplace/

In summary, your staff are your greatest asset, and their wellbeing has a major impact on the overall success of your practice.

One of the most significant influences on the wellbeing of your staff is their mental health. Fortunately, mental health issues don’t have the stigma they once did, and recent initiatives have done a lot to get people thinking about how they can improve their own mental health and help others who may be struggling.

So, what can you do in your own workplace to help a staff member who needs support?

• Discuss the situation with the staff member, but before doing so be clear in your mind what you are concerned about.
• Work out what the practice can do to help? Remember your obligations under Health and Safety, if there is something going on the workplace that is exacerbating the problem, have you investigated any concerns? What support can the practice offer or what is it prepared to do?
• Ongoing support is often required and make sure that the employee has medical certification that they are fit to return to work, and you have a supportive return to work plan.

Our content has links to resources to help you and organisations that provide mental health support.

Managing underperformance when there is a mental health diagnosis, brings its own challenges and the bar to provide support and adjust processes to take into account the employees condition is high.

An Employment Court case where the employer was found not to have met its Health and Safety obligations is summarised at this link (once again log on first) https://www.healthypractice.co.nz/members/human-resources/discipline/case-study/