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<p>The Civil Service has set out five priorities for the health and wellbeing of its
employees, including priorities in relation to physical and mental wellbeing. In addition,
the Civil Service has also committed to being a leading employer on mental health
support, in line with the recommendations set out in the recently published independent
review <em>Thriving At Work</em>.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Northern Ireland
Office is able to access a number of services, including welfare support and employee
assistance programmes, through our links with the Ministry of Justice. Specific support
for staff who have mental health issues include:</p><p> </p><ul><li>An independent
Employee Assistance Provision that provides confidential counselling sessions for
employees, 24 hour telephone support, coaching for managers, mediation and group counselling;</li></ul><p>
</p><ul><li>Access to an internet Wellbeing Zone which contains wellbeing advice,
fact sheets and videos on managing stress, healthy eating and healthy lifestyle choices.
This is also part of our Employee Assistance Provision;</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>An
Occupational Health provider that offers medical advice for managers supporting employees
with mental health issues;</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>An attendance management system
that is aligned with our wellbeing strategy and encourages proactive interventions
for employees with mental health issues, including prompt Occupational Health referrals
with a view to ensuring that supportive measures and reasonable adjustments are identified
and implemented promptly;</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>An individual Stress Assessment
process; and</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>Toolkits for managers which recognise the links
between musculoskeletal illnesses and mental health conditions.</li></ul><p> </p><p>In
addition, more recently, the Northern Ireland Office ran Resilience Workshops in the
summer of 2017, launched Wellbeing pages on the departmental Intranet in October 2017
signposting resources to support wellbeing, offered stress awareness sessions for
all staff in November 2017 and currently operates walking groups in both Belfast and
London locations.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
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