Employers must pay greater attention to business and employee wellbeing if they wish to tackle the rising cost of sickness absence in the workplace, according to Tim Ablett, chief executive at FirstAssist.
Addressing delegates at the COVER Protection Forum, Ablett said rising medical costs and the ageing population were causing a strain on the delivery of healthcare in the UK.
To combat this, Ablett proposed employers work with the private sector if they wish to successfully address rehabilitation issues. He also urged advisers to embrace the risk issues associated with sickness management.
"Do employers realise the true cost of absence? Do they realise the cost of litigation in today's society?
"Firms have to stop seeing health as an employee ben- efit, but as an employer ben- efit. It is about monitoring and managing the process and understanding causation," he said.
Referring to a changing work environment, Ablett said extended retirement ages and the increase in new causes of absence such as stress and musculoskeletal injuries must be tackled now or employers will face greater expenditure in the long run.
To help combat growing employee absenteeism through sickness and injury, Ablett said assessments that look at the risks to employee wellbeing and the introduction of proactive HR policies monitoring working practices could help return staff to work sooner.
Ablett also reinforced the importance of early interv- ention, the provision of support mechanisms and the training of staff and managers in the rehabilitation process.
"We need to look at work pressure and address risks within the workplace. Why not incentivise attendance and encourage healthy living and take seriously health and safety issues? The result of these practices is a healthy workplace and overall, these actions will reduce costs and profits will begin to rise," he said.
