Staff Health & Wellbeing: Part 5 - It’s personal

The early years profession can be stressful, but nursery workers may also find stress from their personal lives impacting their wellbeing in the workplace. While we are told not to mix personal and professional lives, inevitably they will impact on each other. Anxiety about personal problems may prevent practitioners from giving their all to the children in their care, so it makes sense for employers to provide support.

Low incomes

Childcare is notoriously badly paid, and Nursery Worldresearch undertaken in 2019 found that more than one in ten practitioners live in poverty. The University of Essex’s Understanding Society study found that people with the lowest incomes are most likely to say they have no, or only one, close friend. Couples with lower incomes are more likely to report a distressed relationship, meaning they often consider divorce, regret living together or quarrel. In turn, relationship breakdown can increase the risk of poverty for both children and adults.

The stresses that come with living on the breadline can negatively impact relationships and wellbeing, says Gurpreet Singh, relationships counsellor for the charity Relate. ‘It is not the case for every couple, but studies have shown that low income brings stresses around how to meet bills, housing issues, all factors that impact on your happiness,’ he says. ‘If you are coming into a relationship and are happy, it is much easier to get along than if you are stressed.’

Relationship support services and couple counselling have been shown to improve financial and emotional outcomes. Those on low incomes may struggle to afford these services, so making counselling available through an employee benefit scheme helps.

‘It is important for employers to support employees,’ says Mr Singh. ‘Organisations that invest in supporting staff have a much happier workforce.’ However, employers do not need to know everything. ‘The manager just needs to know what [staff] need in terms of support, they don’t need to go into details about the situation,’ he says. ‘If the employee has ownership of that support, in terms of what they need and what they can access, it helps to empower them.’

Domestic violence

According to the charity Refuge, almost one in three females aged 16 to 59 will experience domestic abuse. Since the early years workforce is overwhelmingly female, this may well be an issue affecting staff members within a setting. The organisation Business in the Community has produced a toolkit to help employers support their staff, including a template policy (see Further information). It sets out the ‘four Rs’ approach:

• Recognise the problem.
• Respond with policies and processes that enable a supportive workplace which will react appropriately to disclosure.
• Refer, providing access to internal confidential support and signposting appropriately to external organisations.
• Record – if an employee discloses abuse, it is important to record the details of what is said as accurately as possible, in case the abuse becomes subject to criminal proceedings.
  
  

Parenthood

While many settings provide support for pregnant staff, a number of early years workers have experienced poor treatment. Nursery worker Simone Cousins, for example, was awarded nearly £40,000 in damages this year after an employment tribunal found that she was made redundant because she was pregnant.

The Pregnant Then Screwed website contains the stories of early years workers who did not receive appropriate support. One explains how she was demoted when she became pregnant, and not paid for time spent attending antenatal appointments.

A Social Mobility Commission report on the stability of the early years workforce, published in 2020, found that practitioners who are parents face additional challenges, such as not earning enough to cover their own childcare costs. Single parents, 90 per cent of whom are women, are at significantly higher risk of poverty than two-parent families. Many settings offer discounts to employees, but this is often still not enough.

Fertility

According to Fertility Network UK, approximately one in six UK couples experience a fertility challenge. A Fertility Network UK survey in 2017 found that respondents undergoing fertility problems or treatment felt sad, frustrated and worried nearly all of the time, with 42 per cent experiencing suicidal feelings. Half of respondents were concerned that treatment would affect their career prospects, and a third felt their career was damaged as a result of treatment. While 72 per cent had disclosed their issues to their employer, only 41 per cent said they had good support at work.

Many employers now have mental health policies, but few have policies that focus on supporting employees through fertility challenges. It is important to foster an open culture to encourage employees to share their problems, and to equip managers with the skills to have the right conversations with their staff, but it is also important to have a written, accessible policy, says Joanne Waterworth, senior relationship manager at the charity Working Families. ‘It gives employees security, so they’re not just at the mercy of a friendly manager.’

Working Families runs Best Practice awards to celebrate good practice from employers. ‘The best practice that we’re seeing in terms of IVF is supporting employees to take between five and ten days of paid leave for treatment and recovery,’ says Ms Waterworth. ‘Short-term flexibility can also work really well if they’re undergoing fertility treatment, allowing them to fit appointments into their day.’ Employers are also increasingly offering specific miscarriage leave, she says, with potentially a phased return to work.

Larger nursery chains could consider creating networks or buddy systems, she says. ‘We find that the good employers have particular employee networks, so as part of their family and parent network, they might have a sub-network which is around colleagues supporting each other through fertility issues, discussing their experiences and perhaps how it’s impacted work. Some of them buddy up with employees who may have been through that experience, so they can talk to somebody and share what they’ve been through.’

Fertility Network UK’s Fertility in the Workplace initiative offers ‘lunch and learn’ sessions, webinars, workshops and consultations to help employers implement policies and enable staff and managers to understand the impact of infertility so they are able to support those around them.

CASE STUDY: 1st Place in Southwark, south east London

1st Place is a voluntary-sector Children and Family Centre with charitable status that was set up to serve the Aylesbury Estate, which is in an area of high deprivation and diversity. Staff employed by the centre and its three Reggio Emilia-inspired nurseries are drawn from the local community and are affected by many of the same issues as the families.

‘It is difficult to get social housing, and given early years doesn’t command huge salaries, housing can be a real issue,’ says director Nicki Howard. Poor housing has been shown to have an impact on wellbeing – research by the charity Shelter found that one in five English adults said a housing issue had negatively impacted their mental health in the past five years. Housing problems often put a strain on relationships and can make it harder to move on from abusive ones due to fear of homelessness.

‘We have a very strong relationship with a local domestic violence programme run by the charity Bede House and can support staff to take part in its Freedom Programme during work hours,’ says Ms Howard. ‘Families using the Children and Family Centre may also be getting support from Bede House, so it is important to protect staff privacy by scheduling appointments to maintain staff confidentiality.’

1st Place also funds counselling for staff going through difficult times and, as far as possible, offers flexible hours to those who need them – for example, lone parents with childcare crises or employees with health issues. Staff are offered discounts through the Perkbox platform, which includes access to a 24/7 confidential helpline and telephone counselling sessions. ‘I make myself available at specific times, so if anyone wants to speak to me about anything, they can,’ says Ms Howard. Free yoga sessions – currently online – also take place after work to support wellbeing.

The nurseries have incorporated de-stressing strategies into the daily nursery routine for children and staff. Staff who may have experienced stressful mornings before coming to work are given the space to breathe before they start their day. Relaxing music is also played to promote a calm atmosphere before staff and children engage with the day’s activities.

‘We are actively supporting children to regulate their emotions and equally, encouraging adults to centre themselves before engaging with the children,’ says Bunmi Adams, early education manager. ‘This is particularly important, as children are experts in detecting an adult’s emotional state.’

FURTHER INFORMATION

• Working Families – resources for employers such as model policies and guidelines: https://bit.ly/2WRuknG
• Fertility Network UK – information on implementing a fertility policy: https://bit.ly/3lvvn6X
• Pregnant Then Screwed – a series of workshops and online courses to make workplaces the best they can be for pregnant women and parents: https://bit.ly/3xnxprY
• Business in the Community – a toolkit on supporting employees experiencing domestic abuse: https://bit.ly/3yo15Xx