Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy

Version No: 2 Last Amended: Nov 2022 (Review Date: June 2023)

Positive Organisation

Our vision is that RCSI can be a Positive Organisation within which principles of

positive organisational psychology are practically applied in the workplace to allow our

people and their performance to not only survive but also thrive. We are committed to

executing a range of targeted activities and interventions aligned with the 4 pillars of

positive leadership to help embed a workplace culture that is characterised by strong

relationships, authentic communication, meaning and a sense of purpose.

Positive climate -Fostering an emotional climate where positive emotions dominate

over negative emotions inside and outside the workplace.

Positive communication -Engaging in positive communication where affirmative,

supportive and inclusive language replaces negative and critical language.

Positive relationships -Building positive relationships that enhance trust and are a

source of enrichment to the individual, their team and throughout the organisation.

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Positive meaning -Reinforcing positive meaning where people feel like they are

engaging in purposeful work and positive outcomes that bring value to the

organisation.

This Mental Health and Wellbeing policy forms part of our Positive Organisation

commitment to support our staff and create a healthy and positive work

environment. Our aim is to ensure everyone working at RCSI feels safe, valued,

and is treated fairly.

Policy Purpose

RCSI prioritises the health and wellbeing of our staff and is committed to creating a

supportive and psychologically safe environment where our staff can flourish.

This Mental Health and Wellbeing policy outlines our provisions to prevent and

address mental health issues among our staff. Mental health is just as important as

physical health. Mental illness may be detrimental to a person, which can impact

our happiness, productivity, and collaboration.

Scope

This policy applies to all staff members of RCSI.

Statement of Commitment

We understand that mental health is impacted on by a range of individual factors, and

factors including the working environment, and our workplace relationships with

others.

As such we are committed to:

 Actively promoting positive mental health.

 Enabling individuals to develop and manage their own mental health.

 Helping those experiencing mental health difficulties, as far as possible, to

recover.

 Building and maintaining organisational systems that impact positively on

mental health, promote equality and reduce stigma around mental health.

Values

The values that inform our behaviour in relation to mental health mirror our

organisational values of respect, underpinned by our equality, diversity, and inclusion

commitments.

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Policy Objectives

The objectives of this policy are to outline how RCSI complies with legal obligations

contained in the:

 Employment Equality Acts 1998–2011 and the Safety, Health and Welfare at

Work Act 2005.

 Raise awareness across the organisation and at all levels about the importance

of promoting mental health in the workplace.

 Help each individual learn how to take responsibility for managing their own

mental health effectively, and learn how they can enable/support the mental

health of others.

 Eliminate or reduce organisational risk factors in relation to mental health (e.g.

bullying, stress, discrimination or harassment), wherever possible.

 Enable positive mental health and equality in practice through the provision of

timely and appropriate reasonable accommodation and supports for

individuals who are experiencing mental health difficulties or mental illness.

Policy Definitions

Mental Health

The World Health Organisation defines mental health as:

A state of well-being in which the individual realises their own abilities,

can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully

and is able to make a contribution to their community.

Legal Responsibilities

We are fully committed to complying with our responsibilities under the Employment

Equality Acts 1998–2011.

We recognise that mental health difficulties (e.g. stress, anxiety, and depression) are

covered by the Disability ground under the Employment Equality Acts, and we are

committed to the provision of reasonable accommodation, where appropriate and

necessary.

We are also committed to our legal responsibilities under the Safety, Health and

Welfare at Work Act, 2005, including identifying and assessing psychosocial risk (e.g.

stress or bullying), and reducing such risks.

In the event that we are aware of individual employees with mental health

difficulties we will work with them to identify particular risks and seek to implement

measures to reduce those risks.

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Disclosure

There is no obligation on any staff member to disclose that they have a mental

health difficulty. A mental health difficulty may not impact on a person’s capability

to carry out the demands of their job and in this case, they may feel there is no

reason to disclose.

However, it is difficult for us to support appropriately a staff member if we are

unaware of any difficulties they are experiencing. We are committed to working

positively with anyone disclosing information about their mental health difficulties,

so that we can identify what may help them to function productively in work.

A disclosure will usually take place between a staff member and their line manager

in the first instance; however, a staff member may choose to speak directly to their

HR Partner.

In the case of a disclosure that has arisen due to a mental health difficulty

interfering with the individual’s ability to do their job, we will adopt a partnership

approach with the individual to explore and clarify the following:

1. What difficulties is the person experiencing, and how is this

stopping/hampering the person doing their job?

2. What supports (reasonable accommodations) would be needed to “close

the gap” and enable the person to be fully capable to carry out the demands

of their job?

3. How do we make a decision about reasonable accommodation, and how do

we effectively and sensitively communicate that decision?

4. How do we effectively and sensitively implement a reasonable

accommodation?

In order for this partnership approach to be successful, it is necessary for the

individual to be open to disclosing their current difficulties and to exploring options

through conversation. The aim of this supportive conversation is to explore and

identify how we can work together in order for them to be able to carry out their

work in a safe and supported way. It is difficult to help a staff member if they are

unwilling to engage with the supports and resources that are available to them, or

talk through how solutions can be found.

We are committed to respect for individual privacy and confidentiality. Information

that is disclosed to us will be treated sensitively and will be stored in accordance

with our legal responsibilities under the Data Protection legislation.

Case by Case Basis

No two people will experience a mental health difficulty the same way. Each person

will be supported on a case-by-case basis. We will adopt a partnership approach,

through conversation, working with each individual to explore what support options

are most suitable for them.

In some cases, this may be to signpost counselling supports; reorganise workload;

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an individual may require some leave on compassion grounds; or they may be

referred (with explicit consent) to our Occupational Health provider who will

perform a health assessment and map out how best to support the individual.

Manager Guidance

We ask Managers to stay connected to their team and remain vigilant in relation to

the wellbeing of team members. We advise all people managers to familiarise

themselves with our ‘talking about wellbeing with your team’ conversation guide.

Discussing wellbeing with your team members should form part of your regular

conversations, and could form part of your formal Professional Development

Planning (PDP) conversations. This guidance document will help you prepare for

the conversation, what you can expect and how to signpost to different support

resources.

If a staff member makes a mental health difficulty or illness disclosure to you

Discuss together with the individual the questions as set out in the ‘Disclosure’ part

of this policy adopting a partnership approach.

Work through the supports and resources available to the individual and explore

options that may help such as the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), Staff

Wellbeing Resources and Social pages of the staff portal, their HR Partner or

Occupational Health, or their own GP/counselling service who may be aware of

their difficulty.

Where you have agreed on any reasonable accommodations that could be

introduced to help support the staff member at this time, develop an action plan

and agree to check in regularly to ensure the current arrangements are working for

everyone.

You HR partner is available to support you during this time.

If a staff member has not made a disclosure to you but you are concerned

about their mental health

If you perceive that a staff member is in a state of emotional or psychological

distress due to observed behaviours (conflicts with colleagues, erratic behaviour,

absences, struggling to carry out duties) as a first step, reach out to them.

If a Manager has tried to engage with the team member on multiple occasions with

no response to discuss their observations and genuine concerns, and there is a

continued concern for their welfare, managers are advised to contact their HR

partner. Where HR are made aware of, and are concerned about a team member’s

health and safety, HR will reach out to meet with the team member, possibly

leading to advice to speak to our occupational health provider.

Occupational Health

Where an individual agrees to be referred to Occupation Health, a referral form is

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filled in in partnership with the individual and their HR Partner. Occupational Health

will carry out an assessment and provide a recommendation report on how best to

support the individual.

RCSI will follow all reasonable recommendations set out in the assessment report.

This report is shared with the individual and will map out the partnership approach

to be taken by RCSI and the individual to best support the staff member to be able

to carry out their role, where it is deemed safe to do so, and with any required

reasonable accommodations in place. This will be an on-going conversation and

partnership and can be revisited as often as required.

If an absence from work is recommended by Occupational Health, the Absence

and Sick Leave policy will apply.

Related Policies

Sick Leave

Dignity at Work

Grievance Procedure

Compassionate Leave

Supporting Staff with Disabilities

Right to Disconnect

Equal Opportunities Policy

Health and Safety Policies & Procedures

Policies listed can be found here. This list is not exhaustive. All of these policies

aim to preserve a harmonious workplace and promote our positive culture where

staff can flourish and balance their jobs with their personal lives.

Additional Resources for Individuals

For information on health and wellbeing supports available to you visit the

‘Supporting your Wellbeing’ staff portal pages.

We offer an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) that gives our staff the support

that they need to help them manage their health and wellbeing issues effectively. Our

Spectrum.Life EAP provides free, confidential, professional counselling available to

you and your family (16 years old+) 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Freephone ROI:

1800 903 542

Download the Spectrum.Life Digital App for resources curated by experts on areas of

our wellbeing and lifestyle such as sleep, nutrition, anxiety, exercise videos and more.

More information is available here.

Additional Resources for Managers

You HR partner is available to speak to if you have concerns about a member of your

team's mental health or performance where if could be related to a mental health issue.

We have created a guide on Talking about Wellbeing on your Team to help support

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managers in initiating a conversation.

The EAP phone service is also available for our people managers to speak to an

advisor on a range of topics such as coaching, time management and conflict

resolution. Freephone ROI: 1800 903 542 for phone support.

Mental Health Awareness

To raise mental health awareness and combat the stigmas associated with them,

we have committed to:

 Providing Mental Health Awareness Training. These workshops are

being scheduled bi-annual through Irish Life, our sick leave insurers, for

both managers and employees explaining important elements of mental

health. Suicide Awareness Training is also available and promoted

throughout the year.

 Promoting Mental Health Awareness initiatives such as See Change

Green Ribbon month and World Mental Health Day.

 Proactively support staff wellbeing. Through periods of change such as

Maternity Matters workshop for staff returning from maternity leave,

individual retirement support; and through peer-to-peer social support

forums through the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Staff Networks.

 Keep employees informed. This policy will be reviewed and updated as

required annually by the HR Policy Review Group. Any changes will be

communicated to staff.

 Continue to create resources to support our health and wellbeing.

Through our Centre for Positive Psychology and Health, Equality, Diversity

& Inclusion, Staff Learning and Development, Human Resources, Health &

Safety and RCSI Inspire teams. Resources can be found in the Staff

Wellbeing section of the staff portal.

Getting Further Help

The Human Resources Department is available to support any member of staff in

understanding the content of this policy and procedure.

HR Partners

 Cathy Buffini [email protected] or via MS Teams

 Maire Ryan [email protected] or via MS Teams

 Mark O’Dea [email protected] or via MS Teams

 Rachel Hipwell [email protected] or via MS Teams

Policy Review

Version No: 2 Last Amended: Nov 2022 (Review Date: June 2023)

The Human Resources Department will ensure that this policy will be monitored

and kept under review.