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Return to work and rehabilitationSickness absenceWellbeingOccupational Health

Call for right to return to work within a year for people on disability-related sickness absence

by Noel O'Reilly 29 Jun 2016
by Noel O'Reilly 29 Jun 2016

A thinktank has called for a right-to-return-to-work period of one year for people on disability-related sickness absence or with long-term health conditions.

The Resolution Foundation’s report, ‘Retention Deficit’, makes the proposal among several others aimed at halving the disability employment rate. Currently, 46% of disabled people are unemployed compared with 34% of non-disabled people.

The foundation wants the new right to return to work within a year to be considered before a Green Paper on welfare reform is published later in 2016.

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The report argues that the current welfare system is too focused on benefits and pays too little attention to employment retention.

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It also says that efforts to support people with long-term conditions back to work start too late – after six months on statutory sick pay.

The report’s main proposals are:

  • The expansion of the successful Access to Work Programme to maximise its role in supporting people to remain in work, including greater publicity and accessibility for employers.
  • The introduction of a right-to-return period of one year from the start of sickness absence, during which employers must keep jobs open, learning from the success of the maternity policy in this country.
  • A rebate on statutory sick pay costs for organisations that support their employees to make a successful return to work from long-term sickness absence.
  • Early referral to the Work and Health Programme for those in receipt of statutory sick pay, for whom changing jobs is likely to represent the best chance of a successful return to work.
Noel O'Reilly

I am a writer, journalist, novelist, Follow me on Twitter @noeloreilly

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