Long-Term Ill Health: Top Tips and Considerations for Managing Employees on Sick Leave
Monday 26th June 2023
Official figures from the Office for National Statistics have shown record numbers of people currently not working in the UK due to long-term sickness, with more than two and half million employees out of action. This equates to roughly 1 in every 13 people being on long-term sick.
There are a number of reasons which are considered to be to blame for such high statistics:
- Increased mental health issues in younger people
- Increased back and neck pains, possibly due to working from home which is now more common than ever
- Increased post-viral fatigue, such as long-Covid
Staff being on long-term sickness can have a great impact on businesses who cannot afford to be missing workers, especially given the impact of recent changes to the economy.
What can you do to protect your business?
Employers should ensure that they have a thorough long-term sickness policy in place which they implement promptly and stick to consistently with all members of staff in order for it to be effective. The policy should clearly outline the various stages of the procedure that is to be followed such as obtaining an occupational health report and holding formal absence meetings.
Employees should be encouraged to return to work by their employers wherever possible, with employers offering all reasonable support in order to facilitate this. It is important that employers are shown to have explored all avenues with an employee on long-term sickness before moving to dismissal in order to reduce the potential for claims of either unfair dismissal or discrimination, as in many cases a long-term sickness condition can amount to a disability.
Comment
Having efficient long-term sickness absence policies in place can really help an employer to save costs, both by removing members of staff that no longer have the capacity to carry out their role and by doing this in a fair way to avoid complaints and maintain employee satisfaction.
