The University of Derby has invited Midlands businesses to sign up to
employee mental health support scheme, and we are taking part too!

Businesses across the Midlands are being offered the chance to boost productivity by working with the University of Derby to provide better mental health support for employees and here at Astute Recruitment Ltd – we are delighted to announce that we will be using this vital and important service for our team.

The Mental Health and Productivity Pilot will see the implementation of new workplace interventions at pilot organisations and the rollout of existing approaches in small, medium and large businesses across the Midlands Engine region.

The programme aims to:

contribute to the reduction of mental health distress
break down the barriers to accessing care faced by people experiencing mental illness
support their continuation in and return to work
make a positive contribution to organisational productivity, in terms of wellbeing and economic outcomes

Dr Paula Holt, Pro Vice-Chancellor Dean of the College of Health and Social Care at the University of Derby, said: “The cost to the economy of mental health across the Midlands could be in excess of £45bn this year. Yet research shows that for every £1 invested in supporting the mental health of employees, the return to the employer in productivity is £5. Those returns are greater still when employers take preventative, rather than reactive, steps to help their staff.”

Around 1,900 employers took part in the first phase of project, exploring the issues of how mental health and wellbeing are currently dealt with in the workplace and its impact on performance.

Around a third of those taking part reported sickness absence among staff due to mental health issues, and a similar proportion recorded presenteeism, particularly in the hospitality and business services sectors.

Factors negatively affecting mental health of employees include: –

Lone or remote working
Client expectations on time, quality and cost
Job insecurity
Recruitment practices

Dr Holt added: “A healthy and inclusive workplace is essential for all businesses, so providing appropriate support for employees, creating a culture of openness and tackling discrimination and stigma, will help to remove some of the barriers to growth and development for firms.

“The research we have carried out shows that employers recognise that understanding how to address mental health issues effectively can boost morale, engagement and motivation, but also reveals that they are not always sure where to obtain the help they need.”

The pilot will link employers directly to initiatives such as Every Mind Matters, This is Me and Mental Health First Aid, which all provide expert guidance. Once embedded into an organisation, the guidance aims to help reduce the prevalence of mental health difficulties and increase productivity among the workforce.

The University is now offering businesses of all sizes and from all sectors in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Stoke and Staffordshire, Shrewsbury and Shropshire, and Herefordshire the opportunity to work with them integrate effective mental health provision into their organisation.

Training courses which not only help to raise awareness but could be used to support continuing professional development (CPD) are also available.

Businesses taking part will be asked to commit to an initial meeting to discuss how the programme would work for their company, creating a roadmap for its success, and promoting their commitment to the pilot in the workplace.

To find out more about the pilot, visit the MHPP website: https://www.derby.ac.uk/business-services/midlands-engine-mental-health-and-productivity-pilot/

Why Mental Health Matters

Why mental health matters now, more than ever

We all have mental health, and just like physical health, this can fluctuate throughout our lives. If we cast our minds back to life before the pandemic, 1 in 6 UK workers are affected by mental health each year (Deloitte Research, 2020). Stress, depression, and anxiety account for almost half of working days lost.

With new stressors, including health anxieties, social anxieties, returning to the workplace, bereavement, pressures of caring responsibilities and other challenges brought about by the pandemic, there has never been a more important time to prioritise mental health and wellbeing.

There is so much information out there around mental health that Astute Recruitment have worked with the University of Derby and the Mental Health and Productivity Pilot, to pull together tips and resource that you may find beneficial.

TIPS FOR MANAGING YOUR MENTAL HEALTH

Talk about your feelings – these are valid and by acknowledging them you can take control and use a variety of techniques. Talking about your feelings can help you stay in good mental health and deal with times when you feel troubled.

Keep active – Regular exercise can boost your self-esteem and can help you concentrate, sleep, and feel better. Exercise keeps the brain and your other vital organs healthy and is also a significant benefit towards improving your mental health.

Eat well – Your brain needs a mix of nutrients in order to stay healthy and function well, just like the other organs in your body. A diet that’s good for your physical health is also good for your mental health.

Drink Sensibly- We often drink alcohol to change our mood. Some people drink to deal with fear or loneliness, but the effect is only temporary. When the drink wears off, you feel worse because of the way the alcohol has affected your brain and the rest of your body. Drinking is not a good way to manage difficult feelings.

Keep in touch -There’s nothing better than catching up with someone face to face, but that’s not always possible. You can also give them a call, drop them a note, or chat to them online instead. Keep the lines of communication open: it’s good for you!

Ask for help – None of us are superhuman. We all sometimes get tired or overwhelmed by how we feel or when things don’t go to plan. If things are getting too much for you and you feel you can’t cope, ask for help. Your family or friends may be able to offer practical help or a listening ear.

Take a break!

A change of scene or a change of pace is good for your mental health.It could be a five-minute pause from cleaning your kitchen, a half-hour lunch break at work, or a weekend exploring somewhere new. A few minutes can be enough to de-stress you. Give yourself some ‘me time’.

Do something you’re good at.

What do you love doing? What activities can you lose yourself in? What did you love doing in the past? Enjoying yourself can help beat stress. Doing an activity you enjoy probably means you’re good at it, and achieving something boosts your self-esteem.

Accept who you are.

We’re all different. It’s much healthier to accept that you’re unique than to wish you were more like someone else. Feeling good about yourself boosts your confidence to learn new skills, visit new places and make new friends. Good self-esteem helps you cope when life takes a difficult turn.

Some websites / apps you might find useful : –

Every Mind Matters Get Your Mind Plan – Every Mind Matters – NHS (www.nhs.uk)

Every Mind Matters offers a range of useful resources including information on signs of common mental health issues, practical self-care tips, and where to seek further support. It has a free NHS-approved online tool which will help you build a self-care action plan to deal with stress and anxiety, boost your mood, improve your sleep and help you feel more in control. Complete the Mind Quiz to get free resources, tools, information and signposting to help manage your mental health

Zen Buddy App

The Zen Buddy App offers support to individuals struggling with mild to moderate depression, anxiety, stress, as well as preventing mental health problems and post-treatment condition management. Whether it’s struggling to concentrate on work tasks due to the intrusive sadness/depression from having had a close bereavement; managing excessive demands/anxiety/stress, juggling work and home life, owing to the individual’s lack of assertiveness skills; or feeling under-valued and not having the respect of colleagues due to lacking emotional intelligence, Zen Buddy brings skills and techniques to your fingertips, and is ready to spring into action and help your workforce achieve positive mental health.

Anyone interested in signing up for the app, please email: [email protected]

Mental Health Charity MIND Home | Mind, the mental health charity – help for mental health problems

The MIND website has a wealth of information around managing your own mental health, supporting others, guides and resources, and accessing support services local to you.

Interested in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of your workforce?

The Mental Health and Productivity Pilot (www.mhpp.me) is funded by the Midlands Engine, offering businesses of any size and sector free support and guidance around enhancing the mental health and wellbeing of their workforce.

The programme aims to:

contribute to the reduction of mental health distress
break down the barriers to accessing care faced by people experiencing mental illness
support their continuation in, and return to, work
make a positive contribution to organisational productivity, in terms of wellbeing and economic outcomes

The University of Derby are supporting businesses across the D2N2, Stoke and Staffs, and the Marches by rolling out by working closely with key individuals within the business to ensure they have the confidence to open-up conversations around mental health, the training and resources to enable them to effectively signpost staff and strategies to enhance the culture within their organisation, ensuring it is a supportive environment for staff to open up about mental health.

If you are interested in hearing more, please complete the enquiry form on our landing page: –

https://www.derby.ac.uk/business-services/midlands-engine-mental-health-and-productivity-pilot/

And always remember, its OK to talk about mental health at work.

Someone is there to listen to you.

Our team includes several parents and we’re sure they and all parents have been eagerly waiting for today when their children can return to school!

8th March means relief for working parents including several in our team. It’s no understatement to say it’s been a struggle to juggle wfh with home-schooling.

Some working parents have been lucky, with one parent doing the lion’s share of home-schooling allowing the other parent to carry on working from home.

But for single-parents and for households with both parents working full-time, it has been even harder.

Let’s not forget the kids too. It’s been really hard for all children, not to be able to see their friends and play with them for months. For their social and educational development, this is such an important milestone!

Thank you to all the teachers too! 👏👏👏 Their hard work has meant that our children can have a safe and secure school environment they can return to.

Hopefully, it won’t be too long before we can all get back to normal, but we applaud this first step back to work, school, and normal life.

So, let’s all say well done to everyone for doing the best we could for our kids and each other. ❤️ 👏

An article by Mary Maguire

Managing Director
Astute | Accountancy & Finance | HR | Office Support

Suite One, Ground Floor West, Cardinal Square, 10 Nottingham Road, Derby, DE1 3QT

T: 01332 346100
M: 07717 412911

E: [email protected]

W: www.astuterecruitment.com

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-maguire-astute-recruitment-ltd/

LI: www.linkedin.com/company/astute-recruitment/

In 1666, around 800 Derbyshire people chose to sacrifice themselves, in order to save the lives of thousands of strangers. Could you have done that?

Let’s step back in time to 1665.

Why is the small, Derbyshire village of Eyam significant? In the words of a Victorian local Historian William Wood…

“Let all who tread the green fields of Eyam remember, with feelings of awe and veneration, that beneath their feet repose the ashes of those moral heroes, who with a sublime, heroic and unparalleled resolution gave up their lives, yea doomed themselves to pestilential death to save the surrounding country. Their self-sacrifice is unequaled in the annals of the world.”

Eyam, lies between Buxton and Chesterfield, just north of Bakewell in the Peak District. Most of the villagers were farmers. In the early 1660s, it was a typical, rural, farming community like hundreds that lined the trade routes from London to the rest of England. There were also tailors, bakers, and shopkeepers whose work ensured the livelyhoods of the villagers. And yet in 1665 Eyam became one of the most important villages in the whole of England. The bravery of its 800 souls had huge significance and influenced the development of treatment of the plague and in implementing quarantines successfully.

1665-6 was the last major epidemic of the plague to occur in England, with London the worst affected.

Back then, in 1665, evacuating the capital, the wealthy (Including King Charles II) escaped to their country estates, whilst the authorities did little to help those in poorer communities. Having to fend for themselves, the poor and uneducated of London faced a cruel and horrific foe. The House of Lords eventually discussed the crisis the following year, deciding instead of measures and aid to help, that the policy of shutting up’ of infected individuals with their household would not apply to persons of ‘note’ and that plague hospitals would not be built near to the homes of the wealthy. This selfish and callous attitude added to the feeling of abandonment for many of the poor left helpless and scared in London.

The movement of the rich plus the normal trade routes of England meant that the great plague spread quickly across the country. Rural areas that could previously have been safe from the diseases of urban city areas became exposed.

This was the backdrop, heralding the plague’s arrival in Eyam in late August 1665 via a parcel of cloth from London. Delivered to the home of Eyam’s tailor, Alexander Hadfield. His assistant George Vic shook & spread the damp cloth out by the fire to air it, only to find it infested with fleas. His death was recorded in the parish register on 7th September 1665 just a couple of days later.

The plague was spread by infected fleas from small animals and human lice. The bacteria entered the skin through a flea bite, traveled via the lymphatic system to a lymph node causing it to swell. Then characteristic buboes (pus-filled boils) would typically appear under the arm, neck, or groin area. Combined with fever, spasms, black bruising under the surface of the skin, and vomiting, the plague was a truly terrifyingly ferocious and contagious disease.

Back in the 17th Century, many wild causes for pestilence were put forward, from punishment by God to bad air quality. Some thought fragrant herbs would ward off the disease.

Windows and doors were closed and many, especially watchers and searchers in plague hit London, would smoke tobacco. Large piles of foul-smelling rubbish were also burned.

While these methods helped indirectly, for example ridding the city of rubbish meant that the rats spreading the disease had to move on for a reliable food source. Many had limited to no effect.

However in Eyam, a small Derbyshire village, they acted in a unique way. Their intention was to act decisively and prevent the spread of disease.

How?

The Church’s dominance in the 17th Century was still supreme, even after the religious roller-coaster of the Tudor period. The local Reverends were pillars of the community, often the most educated people in their towns and villages.

Eyam had two Reverends. Thomas Stanley had been dismissed from his official post for refusing to take the Oath of Conformity and use the Common Book of Prayer. His replacement, Reverend William Mompesson had worked in the village for a year. Aged 28, Mompesson lived in the rectory with his wife Catherine and their two small children. Both husband and wife were highly educated, and it was the actions of Stanley and Mompesson that resulted in the outbreak of plague in Eyam being contained to the village and not spreading to the nearby cities and beyond.

A three-point plan was established and agreed with the villagers. The most important part of this was the setting up of a ‘Cordon Sanitaire’ or quarantine. This line went around the outskirts of the village and no Eyam resident was allowed to pass it.

Signs were erected along the line to warn travelers not to enter. During the time of the quarantine, there were almost no attempts to cross the line, even at the peak of the disease in the summer of 1666.

Eyam was not a self-supporting village. It needed supplies. To this end, the village was supplied with food and essentials from surrounding villages. The Earl of Devonshire himself provided supplies that were left at the southern boundary of the village. To pay for these supplies the villagers left money in water troughs that were filled with vinegar. With the limited understanding they possessed, the villagers realised that vinegar helped to kill off the disease.

Mompesson’s well on the village boundary was used to exchange money for food and medicine with other villages.

Other measures taken included the plan to bury all plague victims as quickly as possible and as near to the place they died rather than in the village cemetery.

They were correct in their belief that this would reduce the risk of the disease spreading from corpses waiting to be buried. This was combined with the locking up of the church to avoid parishioners being crammed into church pews. They instead moved to open-air services to avoid the spread of the disease.

The village of Eyam, while undoubtedly saving the lives of thousands in the surrounding area, paid a heavy price.

At 40%, they suffered a higher death toll than that of London. 260 Eyam villagers died over the 14 months of the plague out of a total population of 800. 76 families in that rural community, lost souls to the plague.

Whole families were wiped out completely.

However, the impact on medical understanding was significant.

Doctors realised that the use of an enforced quarantine zone could limit or prevent the spread of disease.

The use of quarantine zones is used in England, and around the world to this day in the current COVID-19 pandemic, and many other infections, to contain the spread of diseases.

Sadly, back in the 1600s, it took longer for the ideas of quarantine so successfully implemented in Eyam to filter through to become common practice in hospitals back then.

Florence Nightingale, raised in Derbyshire, pioneered the use of isolation wards to limit the spread of infectious diseases in hospitals during the Crimean war. Echoes of the practices put in place at Eyam.

Adopted in hospitals the world over, learning quickly that to contain the spread of diseases, isolation wards needed to be used.

Other lessons on disease control were learned by doctors from the methods used at Eyam included: –

Limiting contact and potential for cross-contamination.

Eyam villagers paid for food supplies by dropping coins into pots of vinegar, preventing money from being directly handed over.
Echoed today with cashless payments, sterilisation of equipment, and medical clothing.
Before COVID-19, lessons learned from Eyam had been seen in the handling of the Ebola epidemic in Africa. The quick disposal of bodies close to the immediate area of death had limited the risk of spreading the disease.

While the events at Eyam did little to change attitudes immediately back then, history has shown how the people of Eyam, shone a beacon of light to scientists, doctors, and the medical world.

They came to use Eyam as a case study in the prevention of disease, and save countless lives ever since.

A fascinating story of how ordinary people with everyday jobs and lives, inspired medical practices used to this very day. And, it is an amazing, moving story of how people from all professions, trades, and backgrounds came together as a community and made a huge difference in the way we manage the spread of disease.

For more information and interesting facts click HERE to a BBC article on the bravery of Eyam’s villagers.

An article by Mary Maguire

Managing Director
Astute | Accountancy & Finance | HR | Office Support

Suite One, Ground Floor West, Cardinal Square, 10 Nottingham Road, Derby, DE1 3QT

T: 01332 346100
M: 07717 412911

E: [email protected]

W: www.astuterecruitment.com

LI: https://uk.linkedin.com/pub/mary-maguire/18/73/553

LI: www.linkedin.com/company/astute-recruitment/

Mental Health Week Can Your Business Afford to Ignore Mental Health?

We investigate the key impacts, costs, AND savings to companies of mental health at work.

Mental health has increasingly been highlighted as a key factor in business and employee performance, success and productivity.

This year’s Mental Health Week has special importance with the global fight against covid sars 2. Millions of workers, everywhere, across the world have been impacted.

Some working remotely, some furloughed. Some facing redundancy. Some already recently made redundant.

People’s work suroundings and working conditions have been turned upside down in just a few, short months, and whilst efforts to crank up the wheels of industry are in motion, the working landscape is likely to have been changed forever.

Nearly 1 in 7 people, almost 15% suffer some degree of mental health problems at work.

Men in full time employment are half as likely as women to experience mental health problems.

Nearly 13% of all staff absences in the UK can be attributed directly to mental health conditions.

According to research, improvements to mental health frameworks at work could equate to over £8bn in savings for UK businesses alone!

In today’s uncertain ecconomy, business owners, Finance Directors and senior management are more conscious than ever to seek good returns on investment and save money and more importantly improve staff engagement, morale and resilience.

What better way than to invest in staff?

But what are the cost benefits? How can this improve my balance sheet and company performance?

According to The Mental Health Foundation, workplace interventions including employee screening and care management strategies for those living with (or at risk of) depression was estimated to cost £30.90 per employee for assessment, and a further £240.00 for the use of CBT to manage the problem, way back in 2009 alone.

An economic model conducted in a company of 500 employees where two thirds are offered and accept the treatment, an investment of £20,676 will result in a net profit of approximately £83,278 over a two year period.

So, how can employers, HR teams, business leaders put in place policies to effectively improve employee wellbeing and mental health in their workforce?

Make it personal.

Employ personalised, tailored information for staff

Create bespoke advice specific to your staff, your business and working environment

Create risk assessment questionaires

Encourage staff to watch online seminars

Implement online workshops using experts

Use experts. You don’t have to do this alone. Use businesses like Precise HR Ltd, who can give honest, tailored advice specific to your company, workforce, industry and importantly, your budget!

The cost?

Approximately £80 for every employee, for 12 months.

The saving?

According to the Mental Health Foundation, for a company with 500 employees, where all employees undergo interventions, it is estimated that an initial investment of £40,000 will yield a net return of £347,722 in savings. Mostly due to reduced presenteeism (lost productivity caused by an employee working while ill) and absenteeism (work hours missed due to ill health).

In another article by Michael Parsonage and Geena Saini, their report highlights that mental health problems in the UK workforce cost employers almost £35 billion just 3 years ago.

They broke down the overall costs as follows: –

£10.6 billion in sickness absence;
£21.2 billion in reduced productivity at work, or ‘presenteeism’
£3.1 billion in replacing staff who leave their jobs because of their mental health.

So, conclusively, the costs of ignoring mental health for your employees, simply can’t be ignored.

More useful links for detailed reports, information and advice on Mental Health issues: –

The Mental Health Foundation

Precise Hr Ltd

The Centre For Mental Health

The UK Government’s Latest Advice on Mental Health and Wellbeing

…………. Below 2b curated…….

References

Lelliott, P., Tulloch, S., Boardman, J., Harvey, S., & Henderson, H. (2008). Mental health and work. Retrieved from gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/212266/hwwb-mental-health-and-work.pdf

Stansfeld, S., Clark, C., Bebbington, P., King, M., Jenkins, R., & Hinchliffe, S. (2016). Chapter 2: Common mental disorders. In S. McManus, P. Bebbington, R. Jenkins, & T.Brugha (Eds.), Mental health and wellbeing in England: Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2014. Leeds: NHS Digital.

ONS. (2014). Full Report: Sickness Absence on the Labour Market, February 2014. Retrieved from webarchive. nationalarchives.gov.uk/20160105160709/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_353899.pdf [Accessed 28/07/16].

Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health. (2009). Briefing 40: Removing Barriers. The facts about mental health and employment. Retrieved from ohrn.nhs.uk/resource/policy/TheFactsaboutMentalHealth.pdf

Knapp, M., McDaid, D., & Parsonage, M. (2011). Mental Health Promotion and Mental Illness Prevention: The Economic Case. Retrieved from gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/215626/dh_126386.pdf [Accessed 02/07/16].

Temporary Workers & Covid-19. We answer your FAQs

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

We have put together the most frequently asked questions by temporary workers to help you keep safe, healthy and take the best precautions in the current lockdown.

Q: What protective measures can I take to prevent possible contraction of COVID-19?

Follow the guidelines outlined on the UK Government’s website HERE.

In summary, the advice is to do the following.
· Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

· Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.

· Stay home when you are sick.

· Cover your cough or sneeze by either sneezing into your elbow or with a tissue, then immediately throw the tissue securely away in a covered bin.

· Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.

· Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating; and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing. It does not matter if the water is hot or cold. The most important thing is to ensure you wash your hands for at least 20 seconds thoroughly. About the length of time it takes to hum ‘Happy Birthday’ twice.

· If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser with at least 60% alcohol. Always wash hands with soap and water if hands are visibly dirty. For further guidance on handwashing: https://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/

· It is also a good idea to avoid close contact with people in a business setting, e.g., shaking hands. You may inform the individual that while you respect business protocol, you think it is a good idea to avoid handshaking while this outbreak is happening.

What should you do if you are currently a temporary worker for Astute Recruitment Ltd, on a temporary assignment and the following happens? Your FAQs answered.

Q: What if I test positive for Coronavirus (COVID-19)?

Do not report to work if you are on an assignment or project. Call your consultant at Astute Recruitment Ltd as soon as you practically can and let us know you have tested positive for COVID-19, and we will give you further guidance.

Your Recruitment Consultant will contact the client straightaway for you.

Q: What if I may have been exposed at my worksite to someone who tested positive for COVID-19?

Please contact the Astute Recruitment office immediately and tell your Recruitment Consultant that you believe you have been exposed at your work to someone who tested positive for COVID-19. You’ll be given further guidance. If your normal recruitment consultant is not available – please contact Mary Maguire on 07717 412 911 who will deal with this immediately for you.

Q: What if I feel sick? What should I do?

Your health and wellbeing are of the utmost importance. Contact our Astute Recruitment Head Office or your Astute Recruitment Consultant if you are sick.

Importantly;

DO NOT REPORT TO WORK
IF AT WORK, GO HOME IMMEDIATELY.
SEEK MEDICAL ADVICE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE (Call 911)

If you are diagnosed with COVID-19, please follow all medical advice and stay home until you have recovered and have been medically cleared to return to work. Your Recruitment Consultant at Astute Recruitment will inform the client about your availability and when you are able to return to work. For the Government’s latest advice and information, click HERE.

Q: What if the client’s worksite where I work closes?

Contact our team at Astute Recruitment straight away to let them know the client has decided to close their office(s) for a ‘period of time’.

Your Recruitment Consultant at Astute Recruitment will work with the client directly to determine if your work can be done remotely and if you can do so. If remote working is not possible, your assignment or project could come to an end. This is likely to be at the client’s discretion. If your temporary assignment should be ended, our team at Astute Recruitment will do our very best to secure another opportunity for you to continue working.

Q: Will I get paid if I am home ‘sick?’

You could be entitled to statutory sick pay. Please contact our office at Astute Recruitment or your consultant direct, who will then communicate with the client directly and provide you with more information.

Q: What if I am asked to travel internationally for my assignment?

Travel is suspended to all countries noted on World Health Organization and UK Government restricted lists, which are based on the very latest government advice and alerts. This is a changing situation and countries with travel notices change often. Astute Recruitment Ltd is monitoring these notices and you are encouraged to check these too.

If you are comfortable travelling, follow the travel guidelines on the Government website. If you are not comfortable travelling, you are not required to go. Contact your Astute Recruitment Office or your consultant, and let them know that you have been requested to travel and you do not feel comfortable doing so. We will work with the client regarding your concern(s).

Q: What if the client asks me to travel domestically for my assignment?

If a business trip requires you to travel well beyond your regular daily commute, requires air-travel, an overnight stay or extended travel, and you are not comfortable doing so, please contact us. Inform your Astute Recruitment office or your consultant at Astute. Inform us that you have been asked to travel and you do not feel comfortable doing so. We will work with the client regarding your concerns.

Q: What if my child’s nursery/ school is closed due to potential Coronavirus exposure or I am unable to leave my home to go to my assignment as I have no-one to look after my child?

Currently here in the UK, the Government has instructed that only children of critical workers may be allowed to go to school/ nursery. If you are not a critical worker, your child or ward will be required to be looked after by you at home. You can see the Government’s full guidance HERE.

Explore if you have alternate childcare options. For instance, a partner, or relative, as part of your household, who could look after your child/ children while you are at work. If no one is available, contact Astute Recruitment or your consultant at Astute Recruitment, and they will work with the client to find out if any of the work can be done remotely. If not, your assignment could be ended. This will often be at the client’s discretion. Again, your consultant and the team at Astute will work with you to find another temporary assignment, based on your availability.

Q: What if I have taken a personal trip or vacation and travelled to or from another country, should I tell Astute or the client myself?

Currently, the instruction from the UK Government is that all non-essential foreign travel is forbidden.

If due to an emergency, you travelled to a country without WHO (World Health Organisation) travel restrictions, and you are not experiencing any illness or symptoms, you are not required to communicate information about your travel.

If you’ve recently visited a country or area under travel restriction from the World Health Organisation or UK Government contact Astute Recruitment or your consultant at Astute for further guidance before returning to work.

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Mike

16:04 13 Mar 23

Highly recommended! Josh and Sarah have been fantastic at Astute. They've found and placed me in 2 jobs now between them, both really responsive and excellent at keeping you up to speed with things. Very knowledgable about the roles and happy to talk to companies with any queries you have.

C R.

10:45 27 Jan 23

Great agency one of the best ones I've worked with! Liz has been a great help and support in helping me towards a new direction in my career life. She is very attentive and keeps me in the loop at all times! She makes the extra effort to work with my preferred requirements for work and even if it isn't completely attainable she meets me in the middle and does as much as she can to help! Also Liz is very funny might I add 😂 and I'm happy that I can now put a face to the name after all these years! Thank you again Liz for all your help and support! 😊

Christine

10:32 20 Dec 22

Josh and the Astute team was very swift to help me to find roles that matched my profile. They are really reliable and will help through every step of the recruitment process going out of their way to assist and follow up when needed. Could not find a better recruitment agency!

Helen Pinegar

16:19 18 Dec 22

Fantastic recruitment agency.. Josh was extremely enthusiastic, encouraging and clearly knowledgeable about what was needed from both the employee and the employers point of view. Extremely supportive especially in regards to interview preparation and endeavoured to procure feedback promptly. Wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Astute in the future to both candidates and recruiting businesses particularly for the right fit for the role!!!

Lisa Leigh

11:56 30 Nov 22

I have worked as a candidate for Astute and they have been excellent. Super friendly service and professional agents keen to fit the right person to the right job. It has been a pleasure dealing with them and I would happily work for them again in the future. Highly recommend this agency.

The University of Derby has invited Midlands businesses to sign up to employee mental health support scheme, and we are taking part too!