absence

12 02 2024

Britain has a bigger but sicker workforce than previously thought | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds

Matthew Chilcott Absence Management, Blog, Employment Law, General #bedfordshirebusiness, #consensus hr, #consensushr, #hertfordshirebusinesses, #sickness, absence, Business, Business Owners, hertfordshire, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, Small Business, SME, SME's, stevenage

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revised its estimates of the size and shape of the UK labour market showing that it has a bigger workforce, with employment up 170,000 compared to previous estimates.

However, the ONS has also highlighted that the number of people economically inactive due to long-term sickness has been revised up from its previous record high of 2.6 million to 2.8 million.

Independent think tank, the Resolution Foundation, explained that ONS’ reweighting of the labour force survey was to reflect the UK population growing faster than previously thought and it confirms that the labour market is bigger but weaker than previous estimates.

The ONS has also revised the shape of the UK population, with a slightly larger share of younger (aged 16–17 and 18–24) workers (up 0.2 and 0.1 percentage points respectively), and a smaller share of workers aged 25–34 and 50–64 (down 0.3 and 0.2 percentage points).

Hannah Slaughter, Senior Economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “Britain has a bigger, but sicker, workforce than we previously thought. Of particular concern is that the fact that a record 2.8 million people in the country are currently inactive due to ill-health. Tackling rising ill-health is a huge social and economic challenge that we’ll be facing throughout the 2020s, as will getting the UK employment back up to and beyond pre-pandemic levels.”

Our HR Comment / Advice: – Britain has a bigger but sicker workforce than previously thought | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds

Matthew Chilcott, FCIPD, ACEL, Owner of Consensus HR comments: There are some very interesting statistics within this article and interesting how it differs dependent of age. Sickness within the team can cause severe consequences within any business and is why we always ensure a suitable, proactive sickness Policy & Procedure I introduced with management taking the necessary action as requested. All employees regardless of length of service or sickness should have a return-to-work meeting arranged, to discuss their absence and identify if there is any action the company / employee can take to support them, whilst ensuring it does not become a regular occurrence. Failure to manage sickness appropriately can result in a demotivated team and drop in sales and customer service.”

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13 11 2023

Online pharmacy accused of making it too easy to get sick notes | Consensus HR | Herts, Beds.

Matthew Chilcott General #bedfordshirebusinesses, #hertfordshirebusinesses, #HRAdvice, #outsourcedhumanresources, #sickness, absence, bedfordshire, Business, Business Owners, hertfordshire, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, outsourcedHR, Small Business, SME, SME's, stevenage

Doctors have accused Pharmacy2U, Britain’s largest online pharmacy, of making it too easy to obtain sick notes. The company recently launched a service that allows customers to be signed off work by recording a 30-second video describing their symptoms. For a fee of £39, customers can upload the video and receive a sick letter on the same day if submitted before 9pm. The Times tested the service and successfully obtained a sick note for four days by feigning symptoms. Critics argue that the service lacks rigour and is open to abuse. Beverley Sunderland, managing director at Crossland Employment Solicitors, said: “I understand people have difficulties getting GP appointments, but they need to be speaking to someone who is asking questions and probing them about what kind of work they might be able to do. We are seeing an awful lot of people signed off sick at the moment and it is causing chaos for businesses.”

The Times

Our HR comment: – Online pharmacy accused of making it too easy to get sick notes | Consensus HR | Herts, Beds.

Matthew P Chilcott, FCIPD, ACEL, Owner of Consensus HR comments: “This article in the ‘The Times’ demonstrates what could be a managerial, business owner and HR nightmare in ensuring that sickness in the workplace is managed accordingly. At Consensus HR we know how hard it can be to obtain professional medical information from an employee’s GP or medical professional such as a Hospital Consultant but without this we and our clients cannot support members of the team at work with their health and welfare whilst ensuring the success of the business. Money making schemes such as these do not help either the employee or businesses as their real medical need or not is not addressed correctly and is open to abuse at the cost of the employee and the business they work for. Companies need to ensure that they always have a comprehensive sickness and absence strategy in place that ensures the welfare of all members of the team is managed correctly with return-to-work interviews, gaining consent to write to the employees doctor / GP for advice on how to support the employee and access to Occupational Health for support and advice for the company and employee when needed.”

To read our detailed advice on absence management click here.

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If you manage a team and would like support on writing and implementing a suitable Sickness & Absence Policy / Strategy into your business with any other areas of HR, give us a call now for a non-obligatory chat. – 01438 576750 Consensus HR | Helping companies take the pain out of managing people whilst preventing people problems.

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19 09 2023

Employers are seeing an increase in staff being off sick | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds

Matthew Chilcott Absence Management, Blog, Employment Contracts, Employment Law, General, Health & Safety #outsourcing, absence, bedfordshire, Business, Business Owners, hertfordshire, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, outsourcedHR, Small Business, SME, SME's, stevenage

On the 18th of September 2023 our Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development wrote the following article on Employers are seeing an increase in staff being off sick which provides some interesting statistics. This is a subject we have written a number of blogs on in the past and full details can be seen at the bottom of the page.

Employers are seeing an increase in staff being off sick.

A quarter of employers have seen an increase in staff being off sick compared to a year ago, according to a new survey carried out by YouGov for Acas.

This found that while 9% had seen a decrease, 26% of employers had seen an increase in sickness absence.

Acas Chief Executive, Susan Clews, said: “Bosses that handle sickness absences effectively can help to reduce it, prevent any unnecessary disputes at work and stay within the law. Acas has advice and training for businesses on how to prevent sickness absences and address the causes.”

Reducing sickness absence

Acas advises employers to:

put in place an absence policy that is clear on what is expected of managers and their staff if they need time off work!
create a culture at work where staff feel supported and comfortable raising problems that they trust will be taken seriously!
deal with the causes of absence such as work-related stress or workers struggling to balance work and caring responsibilities.

Good work-life balance

To help staff, employers should:

encourage them to speak up if they feel they are under too much pressure at work.
train managers to spot signs of a poor work-life balance.
offer flexible working where possible!
encourage breaks from work, including during the day and making sure employees take holidays!
regularly review workloads.
lead by example as, if managers and senior leaders have a good work-life balance, this will create a culture for employees to follow.

Our HR comment: Employers are seeing an increase in staff being off sick.

Matthew P Chilcott, FCIPD, ACEL, Owner of Consensus HR comments: “This article from our Chartered Institute demonstrates some excellent examples of how to ensure your team are kept in work and enjoying what they are asked to do for their benefit / health but also for the benefit and success of the business. The Pandemic and recent years have thrown many obstacles at businesses and their success but businesses owners / managers always need to remember the welfare of their team. At Consensus HR we actively encourage all our clients to use these methods suggested by the CIPD and have clearly written and user friendly / legal Policies & Procedures to use when dealing with sick members of the team.”

Here are a few of our previous blogs written on the subject: –

Contact us now

If you would like to discuss how you can manage the sickness within your team successfully through the use of a user friendly, best practice and legal policy whilst also using modern age IT to manage, give us a call now.

YOUR OUTSOURCED HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT.

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BP to review personal relationships following Looney departure | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds

28 04 2023

Sick days reach a record high.

Matthew Chilcott Absence Management, Blog, General #outsourcing, absence, Business, Business Owners, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, outsourcedHR, Small Business, SME, SME's

The number of working days lost to UK workers being ill has climbed to a record high of around 185.6m, Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show. The sickness rate, which calculates the proportion of working hours lost because of sickness, climbed to 2.6%, the highest level since 2004. Working days lost due to sickness per worker hit 5.7. Yael Selfin, chief economist at KPMG UK, said the increase in working hours lost due to illness “signals further deterioration in the country’s production potential, and if continued, further decline in long term economic growth.” While the ONS report shows that minor illnesses, like colds and flu, accounted for around 29% of all sick days, Investec economist Sandra Horsfield said she had a “strong hunch” that the ongoing prevalence of Covid was the main reason behind the rise. The ONS notes a big rise in chronic sickness since the beginning of the pandemic but James Smith, a developed markets economist at ING, said the main factor driving up the absence rate was temporary sickness. Paul Nowak, general secretary of the TUC, said: “These figures should not be misread as showing the sickness rate for working people. They miss out on many workers with little choice but to work while ill. This includes low-paid workers excluded from sick pay entitlement and those who can’t get by on just £110 a week – the miserly rate for statutory sick pay.”

The Times

City AM

The Evening Standard

Human Times

Our comment:

Matthew Pinto-Chilcott, FCIPD, ACEL comments: “Sick days within any business need to be managed correctly and the right action taken by the company, management and team. Failure to manage sickness can result in bad moral amongst the team and the member involved and a sickness and policy procedure applicable to all should be included. We also encourage the use of the Bradford Index and IT package with a back to work interview so that all businesses can demonstrate that the welfare of their teams is of the utmost importance and managed accordingly.

If your business wishes to manage absence within the team correctly, give us a call now for a non-obligatory chat.

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If you need support with your team this summer, then we are her to help.

YOUR OUTSOURCED HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT.

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14 03 2023

Poor mental health is the main cause of long-term absence

Matthew Chilcott Absence Management, Blog, Employment Law, General, Health & Safety #longtermsick, #Mental health, #outsourcedhumanresources, absence, Business, Business Owners, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, outsourcedHR, Small Business, SME, SME's

Matthew Pinto-Chilcott, Owner of Consensus HR comments: “When I seen this article today in The Times, I was not surprised to see their statistics in relation to long-term sick leave of members of the team due to mental health. At Consensus HR over the past three years since the Pandemic we have seen a vast increase in us having to ask for medical reports from GP’s and Consultants for members of our client’s teams as previously discussed in some of our blogs. Managing sickness within business has never been more of an issue and it is important that businesses do this correctly and have the right systems in place to support the team member, team and business or it can have severe repercussions.

We help business to manage this and be proactive rather than reactive whilst preventing people problems and ensure all areas of the Employee life cycle are covered from Recruitment, Employee Relations, Training & Development, Rewards and benefits. We take the pain away!”

NEWS ARTICLE: Poor mental health is the main cause of long-term absence, say employers

A poll by PwC for the Times Health Commission suggests that mental illness is the main cause of long-term sickness in the UK workforce. The survey saw two-fifths of employers say they have seen an increase in employees taking long-term sick leave because of mental ill health. More than half of the 150 employers polled said the mental health of staff had worsened since the pandemic, while 53% said the cost-of-living crisis had damaged the wellbeing of their employees. Almost two-thirds (64%) of firms said there has been an increase in the number of staff asking for counselling. More than 40% of employers have seen an increase in changes to working patterns due to ill health since the pandemic and almost half have had an increase in employees requesting flexible working patterns. Anthony Bruce, chairman of health industries at PwC, said: “Helping employees to stay productive in work not only benefits organisations, it promotes the employee’s mental wellbeing and financial security at a time when stress and economic hardship are a worry for many.”

The Times

A few of our previous blogs written on the subject:

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If you want to always keep up with employment law and wish to know more please get in contact now.

YOUR OUTSOURCED HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT.

For further information on any of the HR subjects we provide, please click the heading below:

12 12 2022

Workers stressed over cost of living crisis

Matthew Chilcott Absence Management, Employment Law, General #Mental health, absence, Business, Business Owners, hertfordshire, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, Small Business, SME, SME's, stevenage

Matthew Pinto-Chilcott, Owner of Consensus HR comments: – Workers stressed over cost-of-living crisis. With this latest news article within The Guardian, it can hardly be surprising for business owners and managers during these very difficult times that the cost of living is affecting the team’s performance when at work. Unfortunately, this is an economical problem that does not seem to have an end in the foreseeable future and really emphasises the need for productive, best practice, HR, and Line Management. We all need to ensure that we work to our companies HR Policies & Procedures and maintain a consistent, legal, and reasonable approach to all matters of concern such as sick leave, stress, and anxiety to name a few. As discussed in one of our previous blogs, we have seen a huge increase in the requests for advice on sickness and medical reports and we are not the medical professionals and hence must seek their advice / support for the best outcome for the business and employee.

NEWS ARTICLE – Workers stressed over cost of living crisis:

A survey by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) has found that workers in the UK are becoming so anxious about the cost-of-living crisis that it is affecting their performance at work, with two-thirds of managers reporting issues such as rising absenteeism and lack of engagement among stressed-out staff. The survey of more than 1,000 managers and team leaders revealed that 71% had seen evidence of the crisis increasing stress and anxiety for their teams. Some 41% of the respondents highlighted “more distraction, less focus and attention to detail,” 33% noted increased sick leave of absence and 31% observed a reluctance to take on extra work. “We were very surprised at the extent to which there were these very visible knock-on effects,” said the CMI’s director of policy, Anthony Painter. “There seems to be a sort of bandwidth issue, where people are facing extreme money worries, and that’s narrowing their field of vision, their ability to do their work well.”

The Guardian

The Human Times

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With the economy like it is currently, there has never been more of a time when the health of the team and support offered is of utmost importance. Contact us now to see how we can help.

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