Effective management and proactive approach needed
The cost of sickness absence for employers could be reduced by up to 50% through the develop- ment of an effective sickness management programme, acc- ording to UnumProvident. The income protection (IP) provider urged employers to take a more proactive approach to controlling employee absent- eeism, following research into the issue.
UnumProvident said many employers underestimate the full cost of sickness absence by failing to include occupational sick pay when calculating potential costs, while 39% do not consider expenses such as additional overtime.
The main reason for this, said UnumProvident, is many comp-anies do not have an adequate system in place to monitor staff absenteeism.
'New legislation and guide- lines holding employers more accountable for the welfare of their staff has made them more focused on this issue. However, in many cases, the systems they have in place for managing this process need to be reviewed,' said Joanne Hindle, corporate services director at UnumProvident.
To help reduce the cost of staff sickness, UnumProvident has made a number of recommendations including enabling access to welfare and occupational health support as well as regular stress audits.
The provider claims that supplying an employee with direct access to trained experts helps with rehabilitation and speeds up recovery.
Similarly, with over half of all injured people off for one or more days and 23% off for at least a week, having an effective management programme in place is crucial, said the provider.
Injuries at work are not the only cause of absence, and collecting and monitoring data can help spot trends and patterns of absences therefore identifying any attendance problems in advance.
UnumProvident also stressed the importance of having clear, flexible and effectively commun- icated policies and procedures for dealing with absence. It recommended all staff members responsible for controlling absence should receive adequate training.
Simon Bailey, head of marketing at Scottish Equitable Employee Benefits, agreed that employers need to place greater emphasis on mana- ging staff absenteeism and rehabilitation programmes.
'Group income protection and rehabilitation go hand in hand,' he said.
