- Conference
- 2024 Water, Environment & Transport Conference
- Date
- 27 February 2024
- Decision
- Carried
UNISON’S Yorkshire Water Branch and the company’s Occupational Health team have had a strong working relationship over many years, sharing and promoting ideas for a healthy working environment. In a recent meeting the health team shared that a staggering 52% of all referrals are linked to poor mental health.
Conference notes that time away from work is becoming a precious commodity with employers holding all the cards. This shouldn’t be allowed to continue as we see the impact of poor mental health in our members day to day.
Our Branch has responded to this in a recent pay deal by securing a ‘Wellness Day’ in the recent pay offer. This entitles members to a full day off work of their choosing to reset, no matter the length of shift they were due to work. This can be taken without notice on the same day if that was the requirement of the member. In fact, no restrictions were added to this when the branch put the final company offer to our membership.
Mental health days, simply put, are work days that employees are entitled to take off to prioritize self-care and reset.
Progressive employers know only too well the benefits of Mental Health Days for their staff:
• They see their staff as holistic beings—not just productive workers.
• Their staff’s good mental health has a direct impact on productivity.
• It secures retention of staff.
• It demonstrates they care about staff’s wellbeing and not just the company’s bottom line.
• It shows they are valuing their contribution.
• It gives their staff a chance to recharge and reset their minds.
Conference, the time has now passed for our members in the WET Sector to stop feeling intimidated when they ask for time off due to mental health, or fear the stigma or backlash when they return to work. Therefore, we seek the WET SGE to:
• Reach out to WET Branches to see if similar agreements have been achieved and share findings with Branches.
• Encourage WET Branches to add ‘Mental Health Days’ to their Pay Bargaining.
• Consider the inclusion of ‘Mental Health Days’ as a subject for debate and discussion at the next WET Seminar.