Standard 4 - Wellbeing

Promoting wellbeing and preventing stress in an emotionally-demanding role

Employers should:

• understand the ways in which work-related stress can affect employees’ wellbeing and emotional resilience when working within complex systems and with people, children, families and carers at times of crisis
• create and promote a culture of wellbeing and self-care with an emphasis on preventative strategies
• develop and uphold initiatives such as wellbeing champions, peer support groups and networks to promote open discussion and reduce stigma around stress and poor mental health
• clearly signpost to and promote the range of wellbeing tools and work-based wellbeing activities available to the workforce (e.g. use induction, team meetings and internal communication tools to spread awareness)
• put in place and support flexible working arrangements.

Supporting employees facing challenge

Employers should:

• develop policies that support social workers with poor mental health and offer appropriate support and reasonable adjustments
• use critically reflective supervision to understand which work or circumstances may be impacting on the social worker’s wellbeing, and put in place appropriate support, adjustments and action.

Upholding accountability

Employers should:

• enable social workers and managers to raise concerns about inadequate resources, operational difficulties, workload issues or their own skills and capacity for direct work with children, adults and family without fear of recrimination
• support social workers in meeting Social Work England’s professional standard 6: “promote ethical practice and report concerns”
• enable social workers to engage with their professional association, regulator and trade union (if a member)

Committing to anti racism

Employers should:

• recognise that some employees will face different, additional challenges due to systemic racist bias and act to mitigate this by drawing on best practice and resources from across the sector (e.g. BASW Shades of Bias template)
• meaningfully challenge racism. This includes engaging with the Social Care Workforce Race Equality Standard (SC-WRES) improvement programme.  

Supporting diversity and providing for additional needs

Employers should:

• recognise and act to mitigate the challenges faced by neurodiverse staff or employees with other additional needs
• develop accessibility plans and reasonable adjustments for staff who would benefit
• frequently review the risks of violence, harassment and bullying and ensure they are assessed, minimised and prevented.  

Strategic accountability

All employers should:

• promote learning and development opportunities including, for example, secondments with relevant partner organisations.

Work environment

All employers should:

• make quality time and a confidential, private space available for formal supervision, informal confidential professional discussions between colleagues, break-out sessions and team meetings (this includes how to operate telephone and video-conferencing)
• have a suitable space for confidential interviews with adequate safety measures to protect practitioners
• have in place caring and effective systems for reporting and responding to concerns raised by social workers and managers so that risks are assessed, and preventative and protective measures are taken to ensure the social worker is keeping safe and well.

Safety

Employers should provide a safe and effective working environment for social workers where their safety and welfare needs are met.

They should:

• implement robust policies and guidance on violence, aggression, and lone working to ensure social workers can carry out their roles safely. These policies should include procedures for assessing, minimising, and preventing risks such as harassment and bullying. Where incidents occur, employers should have clear processes to address, monitor, resolve, and review them, ensuring social workers know how to raise and report concerns.
• promote awareness of local policies related to violence, aggression, and lone working. Social workers should be informed of the steps employers will take to protect them from foreseeable risks in these areas.
• Ensure access to support services such as occupational health, employee assistance programmes, and human resources. Social workers affected by violence or aggression at work should be actively signposted to these services, with support tailored to the specific circumstances of each case.

Tools and support to do the job

All employers should:

• Provide essential tools and infrastructure 
  Ensure social workers have access to practical tools required for effective practice. This includes reliable case recording systems, business support, internet access, and information and communication technologies. Employers must also ensure that social workers are trained to use these tools confidently and competently.
• Support digital service delivery
  Collaborate with social workers to identify ways to enhance support for people using digital services. This includes offering relevant training and adopting appropriate digital technologies across the organisation.
• Ensure safe transport and digital safety 
  Provide safe and reliable means of transport for fieldwork and service user visits. Social workers should also be made aware of and supported to follow safe social media and digital communication policies.
• Maximise direct practice time 
  Offer sufficient administrative support to reduce the burden of non-direct tasks, enabling social workers to spend more time engaging directly with children, adults, and families.
• Facilitate access to professional expertise 
  Ensure social workers can access other professionals as needed, including legal advisors, translators, and interpreters, to support effective and inclusive practice.