Report says Government and businesses must improve sickness management
Britain's employers lose more than £23bn every year from sickness absence in the workplace, according to a new healthcare report issued by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).
The report found companies must improve their management of absences in the workplace and it is up to both the Government and firms to work together to increase the size of the current healthcare system.
Nick Homer, income protection marketing manager at Norwich Union, believes the UK population is over-worked, which can contribute to some mental illnesses.
'The problem seems to get worse every year and it highlights the need for protection. The problem occurs across the labour force and one of the major causes is psychiatric illness as people are working harder,' he said.
The CBI believes that to address the problem, the Government needs to make the delivery of publicly funded healthcare more efficient, increase the levels of public and private expenditure on healthcare and ensure companies manage workplace absence and employee healthcare more efficiently.
But Homer believes the first step to improving employee healthcare is to actually recognise that there is a problem. It is for this reason many income protection providers are now encouraging employers to inform them of potential claims, so that a rehabilitation scheme can be put in place as soon as possible.
He said: 'With conditions that lead to long term disabilities there are usually warning signs which need early intervention. This can prevent them from becoming long term problems.'
Mark Edwards, protection market leader at Royal & SunAlliance, agreed that all parties involved needed to work together to get people back to work.
He said: 'We need a care and maintenance programme for getting people back to work. This is a good opportunity for businesses and insurers to get people back to work.'
On the whole, employees are absent for an average of 7.8 days per year. However, the public sector encounters the highest absences with 10.2 days a year followed by the service sector at 7.7 days and manufacturing at 6.9 days.
However, Homer said businesses are becoming more aware of the problem and possible means of controlling it.
'Employers recognise the need for some kind of protection and it is encouraging to see the most growth for income protection is in the corporate sector. The findings from the report will help to increase sales. Income protection providers can help employers identify cases early and help with management of these cases,' Homer said.
The report also stated that UK health spending is far from our international counterparts, with private spending equating to 1% of gross domestic product, compared to 2.8% and 7.4% in Canada and the US respectively.
