Boozing at home | 90% of employees admit to drinking on the job

Even when staff are remote, employers have a strict duty of care over employee mental and physical wellbeing. This means ensuring that staff aren’t compromising their health for their work, which throughout the coronavirus pandemic has been a heightened issue.

“Employers sometimes forget that their legal obligations towards employees working from home apply in a similar way to staff within the workplace,” Andrew Crudge, Associate in Employment and Immigration at law firm Trethowans, recently told HR Grapevine.

And whilst all leaders must be aware of these remote issues, the assurance that policies are in place to prevent damage to physical and mental wellbeing due to work usually falls into HR’s remit.

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However, one element of this duty of care, which many HR practitioners may not have considered, is the vast uptake in the consumption of alcohol as a result of stress, anxiety and depression.