The Los Angeles wildfires have displaced more than 100,000 people in Southern California, burned thousands of homes and caused dozens of deaths.
As employees deal with these traumatic losses, they may be looking to their employers to step up and provide critical short- and long-term support, according to Dr. Joel Axler, a board-certified psychiatrist and National Behavioral Health Leader at Brown & Brown, a Florida-based insurance brokerage and risk management firm.
Even if the wildfires didn’t impact a workforce, this is a good moment, Axler says, for HR to focus on disaster preparedness—especially as experts warn that climate change will continue to fuel dramatic weather occurrences like the Los Angeles wildfires and the recent snowstorms in the South.
HR should be ready to help meet employees’ immediate needs—the first of which is physical safety, Axler says. This can include communicating emergency plans and verifying employee safety during and after any natural disaster. Employers can also provide financial assistance, shelter assistance, supplies and transportation support to help employees directly after an event.
Such efforts can be key to helping employees maintain mental health and wellbeing in times of high stress.
“Employers can also provide additional emotional and mental health support through peer support programs or employee assistance programs,” he adds. HR can also connect employees with free mental health services, such as through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration helpline, as well as resources at a local level.
Giving employees access to virtual telehealth services, online support groups and mental health apps can be critical, especially as employees affected by disasters may struggle to find in-person care.
Employee wellbeing should also be the driver behind employment policies in the event of a disaster, Axler says. For instance, employers can extend flexible work arrangements, schedule adjustments and temporary leave policies to accommodate recovery efforts.
“Most of all, it is important for leaders to communicate with empathy and demonstrate understanding.”
It is a concept that California-based employment attorney Heather Bussing shares, emphasizing it in a piece providing fire-related employment law resources on Salary.com. She reflected on her experience helping employers through wildfires, floods, earthquakes and the pandemic shutdown.
“The most important thing you can do is offer flexibility and compassion for people who are not OK and doing the best they can to function, take care of basic needs and start to make sense of their lives,” Bussing writes. “It’s a long road, and much of the work is invisible.”
Axler explains that providing open, transparent communication—via hotlines, group chats or email chains—is key for employees to seek help or report concerns in an emergency.
Employers, led by a disaster recovery team, should also take a long view on helping employees cope over time. Such efforts can include reassessing workloads and connecting employees to resources for managing the ongoing effects of trauma.
Getting ready now for disasters
Axler offers several proactive steps HR can take to ensure disaster preparedness centers on employee wellbeing:
- Expand EAP offerings and increase awareness about access.
- Incorporate Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training in the workforce to help normalize mental health conversation in the workplace.
- Build a culture of mental health awareness.
- Host regular workshops on stress management, resilience building and mindfulness, and develop peer support groups and employee resource groups.
- Conduct regular surveys to measure satisfaction with and utilization rates of mental health benefits. Adapt to the needs of the workforce, and adjust benefits offerings based on emerging trends such as the rise of digital mental health tools.
“Implementing sustainable mental health initiatives, especially with disasters like the California wildfires, ensures employees have consistent access to care, fosters a supportive workplace culture and improves overall wellbeing in the long term,” Axler says.
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