Employees heading through a divorce need more support than others, but not every employer is familiar with how to provide this and what their legal obligations are.
Many employees share this information with their work colleagues, so you may eventually become aware of their changing situation at home. When this happens, there are steps you can take to help make this time more manageable for your employee. If you are keen to retain them on your staff, offering support is a wise choice.
Does an employee have to tell you about their divorce?
An employee doesn’t have to share their marital status or details of their divorce with their employer. Many will choose to share this information as they may need additional support and understanding from their employer. However, there is no legal obligation to share this information. They may need to share information about their change of address, but they don’t have to disclose the reason for this.
What are my legal obligations?
While there are no legal obligations for an employer to support an employee while they are going through a divorce, they must still treat them fairly. According to Brookman Solicitors, if an employee has disclosed that they are going through a divorce and you decide to dismiss them as you are worried their performance could be affected, they may have grounds to sue for unfair dismissal. However, if an employee's performance is affected and you follow the correct disciplinary proceedings, you may be able to let them go. This should always be a last resort, and only if your business will suffer without taking this essential step.
How can businesses support employees through a divorce?
While you might not have a legal obligation to help, many employers find that a divorce is simply a bump in the road and their employee’s performance is not affected for long. For this reason, if the individual is a valued employee, it makes sense to offer additional support. Here are just some of the ways you might be able to do that:
- Let them know it’s ok to talk about it. Many employees worry that their workplace is not the right place to talk about their personal life. But it’s difficult to maintain a division between personal and professional sometimes. Once you become aware of the divorce, offer the employee some options for who they can speak to. This could be an HR professional, their line manager or even a company director.
- Offer flexible working. Divorce might make it difficult to be in the office for the usual hours. Having the option to work from home or change working hours to fit around childcare, solicitors appointments or any other unexpected demands will make it easier for your employee to continue doing their job.
- Let them take the lead. Some employees choose to cut back on additional work while they are going through a divorce, while others appreciate the distraction. Let your employee take the lead and determine how they wish to handle things. If you are concerned about their work performance, try allocating some of their workload to another member of the team. Let them know why you are taking these steps, and don’t treat it as a punishment.
- Be prepared for the long haul. Divorces can take years to finalise, so don’t assume that all is done and dusted after a few months have passed. The breakdown of the relationship, moving into a new home and establishing new childcare routines will be the most difficult stages, but this won’t last forever.
- Offer support with mental wellbeing. If you offer private health insurance to employees, it might be advisable to extend this to include mental health support. Offering access to therapy can help individuals to process their feelings and keep stress under control.
- Facilitate an extended leave of absence if required. Some people prefer to take a step back from work while they handle their divorce. Being understanding and accommodating during this difficult time will increase the chances that the employee will take the time they need and then return to work refreshed. Without this essential time away, there is the risk that an employee might experience burnout and leave their role.