Online mental health management tool
Shaw Trust, a charity that works to get people with disabilities or from disadvantaged backgrounds back into the workplace, is launching an online tool in January to help managers better manage mental ill health. It will include advice on how to draw up and benchmark policies, and tips on how to hold conversations with staff about the issue.
New ‘associate’ Cohpa membership category
The Commercial Occupational Health Providers Association has launched a new ‘associate’ membership category for non-OH professionals. It follows the launch earlier this year of a category for small providers and freelance professionals. Associate subscriptions will start from £200 and will give members access to the association’s online information and discussion resources, as well as other benefits.
Tax breaks for employer-provided medical care
The Inland Revenue has said it will not seek to collect income tax or national insurance on medical check-ups and health screenings provided by employers in the 2007-08 tax year, even when they have been made available to all employees. The announcement by HM Revenue & Customs followed a campaign by accountancy firm KPMG after an “all employee” requirement was introduced earlier in the year.
Longer hours damaging NHS staff morale
NHS staff are working longer hours, have more work to do, and are feeling increasingly demotivated and demoralised, a TUC survey has said. Fewer than half of NHS staff would recommend their job or career to others as a result, the poll of 25,000 staff found. More than half were working more than their contracted hours, and more than four-fifths (84%) said that their workload had increased in the past year.
