Employer Experience

Employment Retention Worker, Teresa, recently worked with a local employer to support her client to return to work. Read on to hear about the employer's experience - a Team Leader, based in a call centre within private health assessent sector - and how the Employment Retention Service supported both employer and employee to reach a great outcome.

Tell us about your experience with the Employment Retention Service

"The Employment Retention Service (ERS) initiated contact with myself, and explained their role and service. Our agent was due to return to work following a period of long absence related to critical mental health issues. We were able to arrange a meeting with the agent, ERS and HR where the agent felt both supported and in a safe environment to discuss very sensitive personal issues that occurred during a difficult time."

What support did you and your employee receive?

"The ERS provided a link to work that allowed her to build up the courage to speak about her struggles that had not been raised in detail to us before. Communication is a key factor for us in order to better understand an individuals circumstances so that we can best approach the absence and discuss any adjustments or support that may be needed.

Without this communication and knowledge we risk following standard sickness disciplinary procedures that could unknowingly exasperate the employees situation, as the whole picture has not been provided in order for us to address and support accordingly.  By her accessing the ERS she was able to build up the courage to discuss the matter knowing that she had the guidance and support of ERS to step in when she may find it hard to speak. Thankfully once she had overcome this first hurdle she expressed a relief it was now out in the open and a weight had been lifted and spoke openly about the cause behind her recent absence."

What did you find most beneficial about the service?

"The collaborative effort of us the employer and excellent ongoing support of ERS meant the agent in question returned to work and had a successful transition back into the role following a set phased return and action plan. With the effort of all involved I am happy to confirm that she is not only engaging with me, her team the business and customers but is successfully hitting her targets as well. Had it not been for the ERS involvement she very well may have tried to downplay the struggles she experienced and would have likely resulted in prolonged absence or multiple absences from the business and a stressful return to work. Thankfully with the involvement of ERS she was empowered to open up thus allowing us to provide appropriate support, suitable reasonable adjustments and ongoing awareness of her health and wellbeing. A true success story."

Is there anything else you would like to share about the experience?

"I think it is an excellent service and much needed  and I am happy that my agent was able to access their services and benefited so profusely from doing so."