Employers ignore staff wellbeing 'at their peril'

13th June 2011

Businesses that fail to provide adequate support for their staff, perhaps through reasonable adjustments for disabled employees, could be at risk of encouraging 'talent drift' and 'presenteeism'.

Kevin Friery, clinical director at Right Corecare, warned that unhappy or stressed individuals were likely to underperform or even seek employment elsewhere if their needs in the workplace were not being met.

In accordance with the Equality Act 2010, employers have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled employees are not disadvantaged in any way as they go about doing their job.

Mr Friery warned that inadequate support may prompt 'talent drift' - whereby staff look elsewhere for opportunities – and 'presenteeism', meaning they turn up to work but consciously do not meet their full potential.

Research by Simplyhealth recently found that almost a fifth of UK workers feel their employer cares less about their wellbeing than they did a year ago. 

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