How To Support Employees Going Through A Divorce Or Relationship Breakdown

A relationship breakdown can cause major upheaval in an employee's life. The divorce process can involve legal appointments, discussions about finances and childcare arrangements. A change in circumstances can also affect an employee's emotional health.

These factors can all affect their work. The mental health effects can include anxiety, depression and stress. These can affect an employee's ability to concentrate and focus and can reduce productivity. Research suggests that the more support employers provide to help employees navigate the process, the less impact these concerns will have. In some cases, employees take sick leave because of their symptoms. Some may end up leaving their jobs altogether, either because stress leads to burnout or because their performance drops so dramatically they are dismissed. This can cause additional financial stress due to lost income.

As you can see, these personal matters will also impact your business performance and growth.

When employees face disruption and stress at home, your business will feel the effects too. As we've mentioned, employees experiencing a relationship breakdown can experience mental health issues and an associated drop in productivity. They may also take time off due to illness. This affects business performance and can put more pressure on other employees as they pick up additional work.

How you help employees navigate the process can influence whether they continue to work for you in the future. They may leave because of burnout and chronic stress from pressures at work and at home. A relationship breakdown can alter an employee's personal circumstances. A lack of flexibility can mean the role no longer works for them, and they leave to find more suitable employment. In some cases, a drop in performance may mean they're no longer employable. Practical and emotional support can reduce the likelihood that an employee will leave after a divorce or separation.

Your business can introduce several measures to support employees during a relationship breakdown. Whatever you decide to implement, your workplace culture should underpin your efforts. Flexible working arrangements can help by enabling staff to adjust to their new circumstances. However, they're only effective if your company culture enables leaving on time and letting employees switch off when they're away from work. A culture that encourages open discussion of the impact of major life changes can also provide valuable peer-to-peer support and help employees maintain good mental health.

Create a divorce and separation policy that sets out your approach and details the services and benefits employees can access, so managers and staff know what's on offer.

Finally, it's worth considering that providing consistent support to help employees navigate their relationships and create a positive work-life balance can help to prevent relationship breakdown, as well as support employees during divorce and separation.

Let's look at ways your employee benefits and training can help employees experiencing divorce and separation.

Promote a healthy work-life balance

Your employee benefits package can support employees to develop a healthy work-life balance and positive relationships outside work. Employees' needs vary according to their circumstances, so a good work-life balance looks different for each employee. However, finding the right balance promotes good physical and mental health, improved concentration and increased productivity. Allowing your employees to build close relationships outside the workplace makes them happier and reduces the risk of relationship breakdown.

You can support employees' work-life balance in two main ways. Firstly, a generous annual leave allowance gives them time away from work to spend with their loved ones. The statutory minimum is 5.6 weeks per year. You could offer more, showing employees you recognise the importance of life outside the workplace.

Flexible working lets your employees manage their work and personal commitments. It's a good idea to create a policy so you can consider flexible working requests easily and suggest alternatives if needed. Flexible working arrangements can involve flexible hours or location. For example, an employee might want to start earlier or arrive later, or work from home a couple of days a week. Creating a policy lets you consider what arrangements are viable for your business. Changes in employment law are altering the landscape for flexible working requests, so it's worth reviewing your policies and consulting with a solicitor to ensure you understand the changes.

Financial support

Divorce can fundamentally alter an employee's finances. They may have to maintain a separate home, pay child support or share assets with their former spouse. Research suggests that 23% of staff needed to take unpaid leave or sick leave due to their divorce or relationship breakdown. These absences may stem from several factors. Employees could experience stress-related illness or physical symptoms. They may also need additional time off for time-consuming court hearings, to attend meetings with their solicitor, or to go to mediation. Lower earnings due to time off can cause additional stress.

Your employee benefits can support staff in several ways. Statutory sick pay only pays £123.25 per week for up to 28 weeks. Investing in income protection insurance means your team member can receive a percentage of their usual salary for up to two years of absence, increasing their income and reducing financial stress.

Financial education can help your employees make the most of their money and learn ways to adjust their spending and investments after a divorce, particularly if it increases living costs. These could include access to financial coaching, budgeting advice and resources from trusted sources such as financial institutions and charities.

Discount schemes help your team save money on their regular expenses and family treats, and they can also earn rewards. Some schemes are standalone, and most insurers offer member rewards and discounts to life and health insurance customers.

Health insurance

As we've mentioned, investing in health insurance can give your staff access to discounts and rewards. It can also help employees maintain their physical and mental health, which can help prevent relationship breakdown or provide support options during a divorce.

Illness can contribute to relationship breakdown. This can be due to a chronic condition, an illness requiring a long course of treatment such as cancer, or even time spent on a waiting list while experiencing pain and reduced mobility. Mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, or addiction can also increase the risk of a relationship breakdown. While health insurance doesn't cover treatment for chronic conditions, it offers well-being services that can help manage them long term. It also provides quick access to treatment, meaning less time on a waiting list.

Health insurance provides access to services that can help your staff stay healthy and reduce strain on their relationships. It can also be helpful post-separation. If your health insurance coverage includes an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), this can provide access to counselling. Most EAPs also include legal and financial helplines to help staff understand their rights, and signpost them to other support options including tailored legal advice.

Mental health support

Divorce and separation can be stressful, so providing access to counselling via an EAP and health insurance can help staff navigate the process. Adding extended mental health coverage to your health insurance provides a broader range of treatments, including in-patient or out-patient care from a psychiatrist, psychologist and other mental health professionals.

Relationships can end for many reasons, so consider providing resources with third-party sources of guidance and information, such as charities. For example, some staff may have experienced domestic abuse, which may affect their mental health and the divorce process.

Offer training to help managers and colleagues spot the signs that their co-worker is struggling, who to contact if you're worried about someone, and how managers can support their team. Mental health first aid training lets a team member act as a central point of contact and start difficult conversations if needed.

Support for working parents

For staff with children, divorce means creating new childcare arrangements and changing their family lives. Some may find themselves with new responsibilities, arranging and paying for childcare during term time or the school holidays. Flexible working can be helpful, allowing parents to adjust their schedule to reflect their new circumstances. This could involve adjusted hours or term-time-only working.

You can provide practical support if your firm is eligible for the Workplace Nursery Scheme. Alternatively, offer information about tax-free childcare and summer holiday schemes that parents can sign up for as needed. In some cases, a change in circumstances can mean an employee is eligible for benefits. Providing links to resources, including the Government website and charities offering guidance, lets team members investigate further without compromising their privacy.

Pension advice

As mentioned, a divorce or legal separation can impact an employee's finances. This can also affect their financial future. While a workplace pension is already compulsory for eligible staff, an employee may have made only the minimum contributions because they believed their partner had a generous pension fund that would provide for their joint retirement. In some cases, this may be reflected in the divorce settlement. However, some staff may face a shortfall that means retiring later than planned or living on a lower income. This can be particularly challenging if their new circumstances have also increased their living costs.

Ensuring staff can access independent advice helps them understand how divorce affects their retirement savings and make informed decisions going forward. Consider inviting your pension provider to run face-to-face sessions where staff can discuss their options.

Pension contribution matching can help to boost your team's pension pot. The minimum contribution to a workplace pension is 5% for staff and 3% for employers. With pension contribution matching, employers agree to match employees' contributions up to a set percentage, increasing their savings and giving them more to live on in retirement. It can be particularly beneficial for staff who want to boost their retirement savings quickly.

Your workplace culture and employee benefits can support your team through life’s ups and downs. We provide tailored advice and guidance to help you choose the right insurance policies to support a high-quality benefits package. Contact us today.