Employers are obliged under the Irish Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 to ensure safe places of work for all employees, which covers mental as well as physical health and safety.
Improve employee wellbeing
The following initiatives provide resources and can help you structure activities to improve employee wellbeing:
- Work Positive is a free, psychosocial, risk management process, that helps organisations identify ways to improve employee wellbeing. Both State and stakeholder supported, it sets out four simple steps that you can take as an employer, is free-of-charge and doesn’t require members to download any software. It assists employers comply with health and safety legislation at a national and European level.
- IBEC’s keepwell mark provides a clear path outlining and guiding companies on how to improve workplace health and safety while maintaining a sense of wellbeing. The programme includes a personalised report with recommendations for your corporate wellbeing strategy and a certificate of accreditation valid two years.
- See Change Workplace pledge can facilitate improved wellbeing in the workplace. By pledging to become a See Change workplace your firm or organisation is making a commitment to completing the six steps of the See Change workplace programme. See also their Workplace Resources and Support Services.
- Employee Assistance Programmes offer access for your employees and their family members to mental wellbeing support and other services. Avail of an exclusive EAP offer and discount for Law Society members.
Workplace news
A New Reality living with Covid-19: The pocket guide to returning to the workplace.
Government of Ireland: Tánaiste publishes details new law giving workers the right to request remote working
Government of Ireland: Work Safely Protocol
Humanitarian Business Review: Make your meetings a safe space for honest conversation
Ronan Daly Jermyn: New code of practice on the right to disconnect
Ronan Daly Jermyn: Tackling work related stress
Mental Wellbeing Research
International
The International Bar Association (IBA) has carried out research into various areas affecting the legal profession.
Ireland
- Law Society of Ireland research into indicative levels of stress and wellbeing in the profession and the role of the mental-health supports being offered by the Society to its members, 2018/2019
- Balance at the Bar - Members’ Survey report, 2019
- Mental Health Matters: Managing Wellbeing in Irish Workplaces - DLA Piper report
England and Wales
- The Junior Lawyers' Division’s resilience and wellbeing survey report, 2019
Scotland
- Report into the status of mental health stigma and discrimination in the Scottish legal profession, June 2020.
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