Britain's manufacturing firms are losing faith that the government's ‘fit note' programme is delivering on getting people back to work and further action is needed from policymakers, a survey has urged.
The 2013 Sickness Absence survey from Westfield Health and manufacturing organisation EEF shows sickness absence rates have plateaued at 2.2% and 2.3% for 2011 and 2012 respectively, having previously fallen from 3% in 2007.
Paul Shires, executive director at Westfield Health said: "The plateau in sickness absence levels reflects the clear need for government to invest more time and effort in helping employers manage the health and wellbeing of their staff."
Manufacturers are reporting that longer-term sickness absence is increasing (40%) rather than decreasing (24%). After surgery, the key causes of long-term absence remain back pain and other musculoskeletal disorders, stress and other mental health problems.
The survey found only 26% of employers believe the ‘fit note' has resulted in employees returning to work earlier, compared to 40% who said they are not.
Just under 30% of companies reported they did not receive any ‘fit notes' in 2012 that were signed ‘may be fit for work' In addition, a third of companies said they could not make work adjustments for individuals due to insufficient information in the ‘fit note.'
MoAfter employees' health conditions, GPs are now seen as the second biggest barrier to rehabilitating employees.
More companies disagree (49%) than agree (20%) the advice given by GPs about employees' fitness for work has improved. The gap between those who rate the advice positively and those who view it negatively has widened significantly over the past 12 months.
As a result of these findings, Britain's manufacturers are calling on the government to organise a summit of employers and medical professionals to agree measures to tackle sickness absence.
Terry Woolmer, head of health and safety policy at EEF said: "We are only going to make further progress on sickness absence if we do something differently.
"That means making the ‘fit note' deliver the advice to help employers and employees work together to get more of them returning earlier to work. However, employers that were willing to give the ‘fit note' a chance are now becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the quality of advice that it is providing.
"The government needs to sit down with employers and the medical profession to understand what is holding up progress and agree a way forward. This must include a step change in the number of GPs being trained to use the fit note."
