The EEF’s Sickness Absence Report 2008 published today in partnership with Unum, the
UK ’s leading disability insurer, shows that organisations that do not encounter any barriers to rehabilitating employees, have sickness absence rates that are on average 0.7% lower than those with barriers. On an annual basis, this means an extra 1.5 days attendance per worker or approximately 4.5 million days of work lost across manufacturing industry.
Major barriers to rehabilitation which most affected sickness absence rates were identified in the report as the ‘misconceptions about the effect of the employee’s health condition’, ‘employee resistance to rehabilitation’, ‘the role of General Practitioners in promoting rehabilitation’ and ‘concern about employees being protected under the Disability Discrimination Act’
Commenting on the findings, Peter O’Grady, EEF West Midlands’ Head of Representation, said:
“Promoting rehabilitation in the workplace is the single biggest factor that government, employers, employees and healthcare professionals can address in tackling our sickness absence record. Dame Carol Black’s review of the health and well-being of the working population is a critical part of this process and we need all stakeholders to support this if we are to make the necessary step change in behaviour.”
Professor Mike O’Donnell, Unum Chief Medical Officer, added:
“We know that many of the things that prevent people from returning to work are unrelated to their actual health condition. Unum’s work with Cardiff University has highlighted the importance of psychosocial factors – including beliefs, fears, advice from family - in prolonging absence from work, and these results confirm that the employee’s health condition is only one of the many factors in preventing return to work. Employers and healthcare professionals need much greater awareness of these psychosocial issues when assessing how to help people return to work.”
Commenting on the report, Dame Carol Black, National Director for Health & Work, said:
“The results echo much of what I discovered during my review and it is encouraging to see support for one of my key proposals – the Fit for Work service. I am glad to see EEF endorsing the idea and recommending it should be a priority. The survey also importantly highlights the issue of mental health problems, an area where there needs to be early intervention to prevent such problems becoming long-term and leading to people losing their jobs.”
The report also shows that those companies investing in rehabilitation and absence management policies, especially training for line managers, are continuing to reap the benefits with lower absence rates and higher levels of profitability.
87% of companies now have a written policy on absence management, whilst 38% of managers received training in managing long term sickness absence, up from 34% in the 2007 survey.
The survey showed the positive benefits of such investment with 30% of companies who trained their managers reporting a decreasing trend in all types of sickness absence. This compared to 21% where no absence management training was carried out.
The report, based on one of the UK’s largest surveys of companies on the management of sickness absence and rehabilitation, also contains a number of findings which challenge popular assumptions:
- that sickness absence is increasing. The overall sickness rate in manufacturing has remained stable at 3% and 6.8 days per employee compared to the 2007 survey, although there has been a slight decline since 2006.
- that it is inevitable for employees to have days off sick. On average, 40% of employees are reported to have no absence.
- that older workers have greater levels of absence. Though there is a slight increase in absence amongst the over 40s it is statistically insignificant.
- that sickness absence increases with having a sick pay scheme. The survey shows no evidence of this.
- that stress is more common amongst older employees. Companies with a younger workforce (below 40) are much more likely to report stress as a cause of long term sickness.
- that only large companies offer sick pay schemes. 78% of small companies operated sick pay schemes, compared to 91% of medium and 94% of large employers.
- EEF provides its own Occupational Health service for companies which has its own dedicated website, www.occupationalhealth-eef.co.uk/
- They have produced an award winning toolkit to help employers manage sickness absence which is available from www.eef.org.uk
About Unum
Unum is the UK’s leading provider of group income protection insurance, with over 35 years of experience. Our critical illness and life insurance products enable our customers to purchase complementary protection solutions that together make up a comprehensive protection package.
Our income protection customers benefit from our expertise in the specialist areas of disability, rehabilitation and return-to-work. We enable individuals to protect their incomes, ensuring their financial security if they are unable to work because of illness or injury. For employers, we offer Group Income Protection policies which provide insurance cover for employees’ salaries and safeguard one of their most valuable resources by helping employees return to work following long-term absence.
At the end of 2007, Unum protected in excess of 1.7 million lives through more than 16,700 schemes. During 2007 we paid total benefit claims of £273 million – of which more than £190 million related to income protection claims.
Our US parent company, Unum Group, traces its history back to 1848 and is one of the leading providers of employee benefits products and services, and the largest provider of group and individual disability income protection insurance in the United States. Premium income for Unum Group and its subsidiaries exceeded $7.9 billion in the year ended 31 December 2007, with reported revenues for the group exceeding $10.5 billion. Total assets were $52.4 billion at 31 December 2007.
For more information please visit www.unum.co.uk
EEF West Midlands is the largest employers’ association in the region
, representing primarily engineering, manufacturing and technology-based organisations
. Serving its member companies is a team of over 160 staff providing a wide range of experience and expertise.
Their HR and Legal team supports and advises on HR issues including employment law and employee relations and handles hundreds of employment tribunals for their members annually. Safety and Environmental Services, the health and safety division of EEF West Midlands, also provides expert support to its members.
At their Technology Centre in Birmingham and the Conference and Training Centre in Leamington Spa, EEF West Midlands help develop the workforce required for businesses to succeed at all levels. This includes training 80% of all engineering apprentices in the Birmingham and Solihull area through to management development and nationally accredited courses for health, safety and environmental practitioners.
Nationally and across the region, EEF provides a powerful voice for its members