From sick note to fit note

Speaking to local employers at the EEF South managing sickness absence seminar in Hook, Hampshire, Professor Dame Carol Black, the government’s national director for Health and Work, outlined the new strategy being developed to cut the number of work-days lost due to ill-health…and the far-reaching impact of not managing sickness absence effectively. “The workplace should be a venue for health promotion – a healthy workforce is a productive workforce,” said Prof. Black. “We need a strategy to bridge historical demarcations of occupational health, public health and the healthcare of individuals.” Prof. Black pointed out that 160 million days were lost to sickness every year at a cost equivalent to 10% of total payroll – and highlighted the far-reaching social consequences of long-term absence from work. She called for improved workplace support to help people make better health choices, with greater emphasis on the prevention of work-related illness, on employer involvement in helping people manage health issues and also on return-to-work support. “We need better relationships between employers and GPs, so that we move from a culture of ‘sick note’ to ‘fit note’ whereby the individual is assisted in returning to work at the earliest opportunity. At present, there is not enough constructive communication.” Prof. Sayeed Khan, EEF’s chief medical adviser, unveiled a new toolkit developed to help employers manage sickness absence more effectively. He said that employers needed to adopt a robust, but fair, case management approach to get individuals back to work. “We should aim for a high attendance culture, and that means demonstrating leadership from the top, training managers in early intervention, handling employees fairly and communicating company policy over ill-health clearly.” The seminar, part of a national programme run by EEF in partnership with AXA, attracted over 400 companies. All delegates received a toolkit developed by EEF’s HR, employment law and occupational health specialists to help them make the shift to a high attendance culture. The picture shows Prof. Dame Carol Black with Prof. Sayeed Khan.