Employers fail to grasp fit notes

From this date, doctors will be able to advise workers on sick leave for more than seven days whether they could return to work with additional support from their employer. Yet according to a survey by workforce management software supplier Kronos, more than one third (35%) of employers are unaware of the scheme's introduction and only 22% believe the fit note will reduce workplace absence. The survey of 1,400 individuals – managers in operations, HR and general management – also revealed that 38% believe the fit note will create more problems than it solves, while just one in four (24%) believes the opposite will result. Respondents cited a number of barriers to the success of the fit note: just under half (47%) believe the biggest barrier will be the inability of the GP to assess the functional impairment of an employee; 26% say lack of employee understanding and information will be the main problem; 12% think that the lack of information and support for employers will hinder the scheme most. Only 5% said they think there will be no barriers to its introduction. The most effective absence management tools in use are timely back-to-work interviews (cited by 29%). More than one in ten (11%) said that monitoring patterns of absence behaviour, encouraging flexible working and offering an attendance bonus were the most effective tools within their own organisations. Commenting on the survey findings, Simon Macpherson, Kronos UK's senior director for business development and operations, said: "The introduction of the fit note on 6th April and the government's new focus on public sector absence again raised the profile of absence management in business. It's a very real and very costly problem in every sector and every organisation… I very much hope that the fit note has the same positive effect that many Kronos-customer organisations already achieve by closely monitoring absence levels and patterns of behaviour and nipping the problem in the bud by conducting timely return-to-work interviews." The government has released guidance on the fit note: see www.dwp.co.uk/fitnote