There needs to be a ‘step-change’ in how employers manage and prevent employee sickness, according to the Society of Occupational Medicine (SOM).
The industry body for workplace health professionals has responded to data published yesterday by the CIPD and Simplyhealth showing that the average UK employee took almost two full working weeks off sick in the past year.
This was a dramatic increase compared to 2019, when the total was 5.8 days per employee, and to 2023, when 7.8 days were reported.
Although the CIPD research found that occupational health services are now offered by 69% of employers, only a minority (31%) use OH professionals proactively to prevent ill-health risks from occurring in the first place.
Furthermore, access to OH services tends to be concentrated in larger organisations with more than 250 employees. Almost nine in 10 (86%) of workers in these companies have access to OH professionals.
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The SOM argues that employers “need to recognise that the value of OH services goes way beyond simply supporting employees who are unwell”.
It admits that there have been positive initiatives from employers such as digital GPs, virtual physiotherapy and online counselling, but is urging businesses to develop and map out more comprehensive strategies.
The government’s Keep Britain Working review, led by ex-John Lewis Partnership chairman Sir Charlie Mayfield, recently published the results of its “discovery phase” and will report further findings this autumn.
The review has urged employers to share the activities and initiatives they are undertaking to prevent health issues in the workplace.
The SOM believes that more proactive occupational health support at work could mean that employees avoid the need to go on sick leave and get signed off by a GP, or be put on an NHS waiting list for treatment.
If an employee’s health is seen to be deteriorating before, rather than after, they go off sick, they may be able to remain at work or return more rapidly with adjustments while they await treatment, it argues.
SOM president Professor Neil Greenberg said: “Too often employees have to be absent for a defined period – often many weeks – before even being referred to occupational health.
“That is a missed opportunity. Waiting weeks before making a referral often means that employees’ health problems are more complex and difficult to manage when they see an occupational health professional.
“This can lead to undesirable outcomes such as being forced out of work and or an early, medical retirement, much more likely.”
Prof Greenberg believes that more investment and proactive intervention from employers will support the government’s aims to reduce the number of people falling out of the workplace due to ill health.
He added: “If employees with developing health problems can be seen by OH professionals, experts in work and health, before they go off sick, everyone wins.
“A key way to do this is for OH teams to become strategic partners – their organisation’s health right-hand, as it were – proactively managing and preventing risk. OH professionals should also work with, advise and guide organisations at board and executive level.”
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