According to a recent study by insurer Aviva, more than eight in ten employers (82%) believe they are important in helping their employees return to the workplace after illness.
A poll of 504 employers found that 74% felt that their organisation was good at helping employees return to work after illness.
This research comes as the government’s white paper’Get Britain Working‘targets the 2.8 million people who are economically inactive due to long-term illness.
Nearly half (45%) of employers surveyed wanted more guidance about how to access support services, such as occupational healthcare, vocational rehabilitation services and wellbeing services that can help prevent illness.
Approximately the same percentage of respondents wanted to see more assistance in making these services affordable, either through tax incentives or other means. The same number (43%) thought that the government should focus more on public health, and help people live healthier lives.
While most medium and large employers taking part in the survey had defined processes to assess and address an employee’s return to work, the research revealed a significant gap in the support available from micro and small-to-medium-sized businesses, which account for around 95% of UK plc.
Over half of companies with one to nine employees reported that they had no return-to work process in place (51%), and three-quarters did not provide any occupational health or vocational rehabilitation support.
Comparatively, only 5% of employers who have more than 100 workers said the same.
Over half of the companies with more than 100 employees provided OH assistance and over a quarter (26%), vocational rehabilitation support to employees who returned to work after a long absence due to illness.
There were significantly fewer micro-SMEs that offered early intervention support, such as occupational health (5%) or vocational rehabilitation (5%).
The larger organisations are also more likely than smaller ones to offer employee support groups (38%) as well as private healthcare (45%), wellbeing benefits (45%), and digital GP services (26%).
Jason Ellis, Aviva’s Sales and Distribution Director for Group Protection, stated: “The UK sees more and more people leaving the workforce because of ill health, and this trend will likely continue.”
It’s encouraging to see that many companies have support and processes in place to assist employees in returning to work after a health problem.
It is important that employers act early to ensure that employees’ return to work goes smoothly. From the beginning, expectations should be clearly defined and communicated. Progress should be monitored and adjustments made when circumstances change. Ellis said that without a transparent, clear strategy, the employee could be forced to extend their absence.
