Today we present the final instalment of his short series looking at some key findings from the 2011 Sickness Absence & Rehabilitation survey from EEF and Westfield Health. Here, EEF Chief Medical Advisor Professor Sayeed Khan looks at trends around rehabilitation following absence from work.
The survey is based on data collected from 454 EEF member organisations between 6 January 2011 and 2 February 2011.
Professor Sayeed Khan: Positive signs on rehabilitation
There continue to be some positive signs in rehabilitation, our Sickness Absence & Rehabilitation 2011 survey suggests.
The proportion of companies reporting barriers to rehabilitation (such as waiting for treatment) continued to decline. Those saying that they had experienced no barriers to rehabilitation reported an average absence rate of 3.8 days per employee per year, compared with 5.4 days for those experiencing barriers to rehabilitation.
One particularly positive finding is the decline in the proportion identifying GPs as a barrier. This fell from 39% in 2006 to 26% in 2010. The fit note can improve this further.
One-quarter (26%) of companies have paid for treatment themselves, whilst employees in a further 17% were covered by medical insurance (see chart).
The survey is based on data collected from 454 EEF member organisations between 6 January 2011 and 2 February 2011.
Professor Sayeed Khan: Positive signs on rehabilitation
There continue to be some positive signs in rehabilitation, our Sickness Absence & Rehabilitation 2011 survey suggests.
The proportion of companies reporting barriers to rehabilitation (such as waiting for treatment) continued to decline. Those saying that they had experienced no barriers to rehabilitation reported an average absence rate of 3.8 days per employee per year, compared with 5.4 days for those experiencing barriers to rehabilitation.
One particularly positive finding is the decline in the proportion identifying GPs as a barrier. This fell from 39% in 2006 to 26% in 2010. The fit note can improve this further.
One-quarter (26%) of companies have paid for treatment themselves, whilst employees in a further 17% were covered by medical insurance (see chart).
It
seems likely that private provision may prove a rising trend as the UK
comes out of recession, and if health service reforms create public
uncertainly about the speed of access to NHS services.
Ensuring that health service reforms do not compromise NHS provision is an important priority.
But the Government can also send an important message to employers by removing tax from private treatment. At present interventions such as physiotherapy provided by employers are taxed as a benefit in kind if the condition results from a non-work cause. Removing that would be modest in terms of lost revenue but would send a clear signal as to the part employers can play in speeding up recovery and keeping their workforce healthy.
Find out more about the Sickness Absence & Rehabilitation 2011 survey from EEF and Westfield Health.
Read all the posts in this series:
XpertHR resources on absence:
Ensuring that health service reforms do not compromise NHS provision is an important priority.
But the Government can also send an important message to employers by removing tax from private treatment. At present interventions such as physiotherapy provided by employers are taxed as a benefit in kind if the condition results from a non-work cause. Removing that would be modest in terms of lost revenue but would send a clear signal as to the part employers can play in speeding up recovery and keeping their workforce healthy.
Find out more about the Sickness Absence & Rehabilitation 2011 survey from EEF and Westfield Health.
Read all the posts in this series:
- EEF absence trends 2011 (1): Sickness absence continues to decline
- EEF absence trends 2011 (2): Fit notes are off to a good start, but more must be done
- EEF absence trends 2011 (3): Managing absence works
- EEF absence trends 2011 (4): Positive signs on rehabilitation
XpertHR resources on absence:
- Fit notes FAQs
- XpertHR Benchmarking data on Absence
- Absence & Turnover Take part in XpertHR's benchmarking survey on absence and turnover.
- Absence rates and costs: 3.3% of working time lost to absence
- How to deal with sickness absence
- Attendance management FAQs
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