Companies concerned about employee sickness absence should turn to the taxman for help, according to law firm Rowe Cohen.
The firm said that people would rather be at work than have the taxman snooping around their affairs and using the Inland Revenue could slash ‘sickie’ rates across the UK.
It is believed that up to 15 per cent of absenteeism through sickness is not genuine.
Brian Rogers, operations director at Rowe Cohen said the threat of the Inland Revenue, which monitors the Statutory Sick Pay system, could actually help reduce absenteeism
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“Employers can make a request to the Inland Revenue to carry out a medical review of an employee that has regular periods of sickness absence; this involves looking at medical records and seeing the employee.
“After this, the Inland Revenue contacts the employer and tells them whether the employee is fit for work or not. One of the attractions of this service is that it is free of charge,” he said. “It’s a little known tactic that canny bosses are now using. Nobody likes to be investigated by the taxman,” said Rogers.
