Nearly half of manufacturers disagree that the advice they have received from GPs about employees’ fitness for work has improved in the last year, prompting trade organisation EEF to call on the Government to convene a summit of employers and medical professionals to address the issue.
EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation’s latest annual survey of its members reveals that employers have lost faith in the fit-note programme, which has been in operation for three years. The survey shows that 40 per cent of employers are reporting that employees are not returning to work earlier, compared with 26 per cent that say earlier returns have resulted from the fit note’s introduction.
More companies disagree (49 per cent) than agree (20 per cent) that GPs’ advice has improved. Dissatisfaction with the quality of GPs’ advice has reached the point that they and NHS capacity are now seen as the joint-second biggest barrier in achieving successful rehabilitation of long-term sick employees.
On a positive note, just under half of all employers (49 per cent) said they were able to make all the required workplace adjustments for employees whose fit note was signed ‘may be fit for work’ (an increase from 38 per cent in 2011).
According to the survey, sickness-absence rates have plateaued at 2.2 per cent and 2.3 per cent for 2011 and 2012 respectively, having previously fallen from 3 per cent in 2007. The average number of days lost to absence has shown a minor increase from a low of 5.1 days in 2011 to 5.3 days last year.
More manufacturers are also reporting that longer-term sickness absence is increasing (40 per cent) rather than decreasing (24 per cent), with MSDs, stress and mental illness the primary causes.
On the back of its findings, EEF is demanding renewed government action to ensure that the advice provided by GPs is helpful in getting employees back to work sooner. To this end, it is calling for a summit meeting of employers, the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and the British Medical Association to identify the obstacles around rehabilitation and agree on the best ways to overcome them.
It also wants to see all medical professionals, including hospital doctors and GPs, trained in using the fit note; and has the urged the Government to widen its proposed tax relief on health-related interventions by employers that are recommended by the new Health and Work Assessment and Advisory Service (HWAAS), due to be operational next year.
On this latter issue, EEF wants the Government to increase the current threshold of £500 per person, for the relief to be available on interventions within the first two weeks of absence rather than the recommended four weeks; and for it not to be dependent on a referral from the HWAAS.
IOSH agreed that the tax-relief proposal, although welcome, is not as inclusive as it had hoped. Said Richard Jones, head of policy and public affairs: “We would like to see the Government take a broader approach, so that early, evidence-based and medically-recommended interventions are supported more often. €ﾨ
€ﾨ”We understand government will be consulting on the implementation of this new tax scheme later in the year, and IOSH will be responding. As an Institution, we will emphasise that removing tax disincentives and encouraging employers who want to do the right thing for their employees is a win-win situation. It’s good for employers and businesses; it’s good for workers and their families; and it’s good for the economy and society as a whole.”
EEF head of health and safety policy Terry Woolmer said: “We are only going to make further progress on sickness absence if we do something differently. That means making the fit note deliver the advice to help employers and employees work together to get more of them returning earlier to work. However, employers who were willing to give the fit note a chance are now becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the quality of advice that it is providing.
“The Government needs to sit down with employers and the medical profession to understand what is holding up progress and agree a way forward. This must include a step change in the number of GPs being trained to use the fit note.”
The survey, undertaken with insurance provider Westfield Health, is based on feedback from 353 EEF members.
In this episode of the Safety & Health Podcast, ‘Burnout, stress and being human’, Heather Beach is joined by Stacy Thomson to discuss burnout, perfectionism and how to deal with burnout as an individual, as management and as an organisation.
We provide an insight on how to tackle burnout and why mental health is such a taboo subject, particularly in the workplace.
