Have you seen new guidance from ACAS?

ACAS has published new guidance, including:

• Code of Practice and guidance on flexible working
• Managing sickness absence due to stress and depression
• Good practice guidance on dealing with questions regarding discrimination in the workplace.

Later this year, staff who have worked with you for 26 weeks or more will have the right to ask if they can work flexibly. ACAS has recently released new guidance to help you to prepare for forthcoming changes in the law, including how to handle requests fairly and how to avoid discrimination. 

To download the Code of Practice on flexible working, click here

To download the ACAS guidance on flexible working, click here

This time of the year can, for a variety of reasons, trigger mental health difficulties. ACAS has produced guidance to help employers to tackle the stigma around mental health and to focus on the practical things that can be done to help staff.

 To download the advisory booklet, click here

To download top tips for promoting positive mental health, click here

In January 2014, ACAS published good practice guidance on how employers should deal with questions regarding discrimination in the workplace. This guidance applies from 6 April 2014, when the discrimination questionnaire provisions in S.138 of the Equality Act 2010 will be abolished.   The guide explains how employees who they have been discriminated under the Equality Act 2010, can ask questions, and how employers who receive an information request of this nature can respond appropriately. Sometimes a simple question and answer can clear up misunderstanding and nip problems in the bud before they escalate.

To download the guidance, click here