Digital Handbook

Making It Happen

Optional ideas informed by the EuroPris Staff Wellbeing Expert Group to help you explore the topic further and adapt approaches to your own prison service.

• Clarify available leave types to improve understanding and uptake (e.g. sharing simple entitlement summaries during team briefings).

• Apply leave policies consistently to strengthen trust and fairness (e.g. using clear, standardised criteria when approving requests).

• Encourage full use of annual leave to reduce fatigue and prevent burnout (e.g. prompting staff to plan restorative breaks across the year).

• Model healthy boundaries as leaders to reinforce a positive culture (e.g. avoiding routine out‑of‑hours emails or contact).

• Develop cross‑trained teams to ensure effective coverage during absences (e.g. pairing colleagues to support each other’s roles when leave is taken).

• Promote wellbeing or mental health days to support early intervention (e.g. explicitly encouraging staff to take short periods of rest when needed).

• Support study leave to encourage learning and development (e.g. adjusting workloads or rotas during exam or training periods).

• Strengthen time‑management capability to reduce overload (e.g. providing prioritisation tools, planning resources or short training sessions).

• Embed regular wellbeing check‑ins to identify pressures early (e.g. incorporating simple wellbeing prompts into routine 1:1 conversations).

• Support carer leave and family related leave to reduce stress and improve retention (e.g. discussing flexible options for dependent‑related absences).

• Plan workforce resourcing proactively to minimise leave‑related service gaps (e.g. forecasting peak leave periods and adjusting staffing models in advance).

• Promote digital wellbeing tools to help staff manage work–life balance (e.g. signposting wellbeing apps, self‑care platforms or digital fatigue‑management resources).