Too Sick To Work?
The Government has pledged to get a million people off incapacity benefit by 2015.
Repeated or continuous sickness absence is a difficulty many employers regularly encounter. There comes a point where an employer has to consider whether the employee is going to return to work and, if so, is he capable of doing his or her job properly or well.
Another problem is whether the person’s sickness falls within the scope of the Disability Discrimination Act.(DDA) Because, if it does, the employer must consider making reasonable adjustments to enable his employee to continue to work.
Even if the illness does not fall within the DDA the best procedures to deal with long term sick employees are those which reflect the DDA procedures. Primarily this involves a number of key elements:
- Keeping in touch with the absent employee, find out when they think they are likely to return to work.
- Obtaining medical reports, either from an independent doctor or from the employees own doctor to ascertain when the employee is likely to return to work.
- Consider options which will support their return such as:
- phased return to work
- starting on light duties for a few weeks or months
- workplace adjustment, eg a change to seating or desk arrangements for a person with a bad back
- counselling or support for someone with stress, depression or mental health issues
If, the employer allows sufficient time for the employee to get better and supports their return in this way but their efforts fail, then the employer may, after further discussions with the employee, dismiss him on grounds of capability and ill health. By taking these steps and carefully considering ways to return the employee to work, the employer will protect himself from a claim for unfair dismissal.
On 21st July 2008, The Department of Work and Pensions released its Green Paper “No one written off, reforming welfare to reward responsibility” which suggested that, with good health care management and “back to work” strategies, the number of people going onto long term incapacity benefits can be reduced by 60%. This should hit the Government’s target of taking a million people off incapacity benefit by 2015.
The green paper suggests two key ways workers can be returned to the workplace rather than allowing them to slip away and end up on long term benefits. Firstly they recommend early intervention. Employers must consider the individual’s needs and tailor a return to work package that takes those needs into account. Secondly they want employers to take a proactive approach to supporting a return to work including temporary provision of modified work.
Thirdly they want to give recognition to the fact that work can be beneficial and can aid a person’s recovery in certain circumstances.
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, James Purnell has said that the government is committing financial support to employers by doubling the amount of money available to enable employers to adapt the workplace to accommodate people with special needs.
This must be good news for both employers and employees. Employees should not feel that they will be “written off” or lose their livelihood if they are unfortunate enough to suffer a period of ill health. Employers will benefit from better workforce retention.
Contact Caroline Mitchell for further information or advice.
Published 26/08/2008. The author of this article is Caroline Mitchell
