If you feel you’ve had an increase in fit notes issued to employees in your business, particularly in relation to mental health, you’re not alone. The number of fit notes being issued has been rising with the BBC reporting that there were almost 850,000 more fit notes in the most recent year compared with six years earlier.
Furthermore, according to a recent BBC survey hundreds of GPs have never denied a fit note to someone who had asked for one because of mental health (although some GP’s surveyed signed a patient off work for a shorter time than they had been asked for). Last year where a reason was cited for an employee being signed off, more fit notes had mental health and behavioural disorders as the underlying reason than any other condition.
The rise of fit notes, coupled with forthcoming changes to the law on Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), will see sickness absence heading up the agenda for many businesses as it becomes ever more important to be prepared to deal with ill health related matters whatever the cause.
With this in mind, here’s three steps every business should think about:
- Check your business has solid foundations in place
- Pro-active ‘early intervention’ sickness absence management
- Being alert to discrimination issues and the duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees
1. Check your business has solid foundations in place
Getting the basics right can help to prevent and effectively manage sickness absence. Make sure your employees and managers are aware of your company policies in relation to sickness absence, that steps such as return-to-work interviews are carried out consistently and effectively and that sickness absence is appropriately monitored so that any patterns of absence / concerns can be picked up and addressed appropriately and in good time.
Dealing with sickness absence and health related issues isn’t always easy so it’s important to ensure that those with people management responsibilities are appropriately trained to empower them to tackle common issues and that they know where to turn should they need advice and support.
Don’t overlook the importance of workplace culture either as this can have an impact on employee health and wellbeing, not just in terms of matters such as stress, but on employees feeling willing and able to talk about concerns such as mental health.
One of the areas that has been a hot topic for some businesses in recent months is supporting neurodiverse employees in the workplace. If this is an area your business is thinking about you may be interested in our earlier Legal Update on this area.
2. Pro-active ‘early intervention’ sickness absence management
Remember, in many cases early intervention can be a win win for your employee and your business, for example signposting employees to support available through Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP’s) if applicable in your business, or assessing early on whether guidance from an appropriate external source such as an occupational health provider could help you to support the employee in the workplace / to return to work. In some situations, such as short-term frequent absences where there is an underlying medical condition, requesting an employee’s permission to contact their GP for a medical report can be a key first step in identifying how to appropriately deal with the situation.
Long term sickness absence (as a general rule of thumb, where an employee has been off sick for eight weeks or more) can be an area which sometimes gets overlooked by busy managers – a case of out of sight out of mind. This can be detrimental to businesses not least because it can make the situation more difficult to deal with and often more drawn out. If you have an employee on long term sickness absence bear in mind that it will be important to appropriately and carefully manage the situation, particularly if the employee may be considered disabled under the Equality Act.
In cases of long-term sickness absence, a first step will often be to arrange a welfare meeting with the employee to explore the reasons for their absence and the prospects of their return. If the employee does not foresee an imminent return to work, then it is often appropriate to seek their permission to obtain medical advice on their situation, commonly from their GP although another source such as Occupational Health may be more appropriate depending on the situation. It’s always important to seek advice on the individual facts of the case before acting, so please get in touch.
3. Being alert to discrimination issues and the duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees
As you are likely already aware, employees have the right not to be discriminated against. When it comes to sickness absence and health related matters a particular area to be alert to is disability discrimination. Also bear in mind that if an employee is considered disabled for the purposes of the Equality Act, employers are under a duty to make reasonable adjustments if a provision, criterion or practice, a physical feature of the employer’s premises or the absence of an auxiliary aid puts a disabled employee at a substantial disadvantage.
Managing sickness absence or ill health related matters can be challenging for businesses (and at times frustrating) so it’s important to get the advice you need. If you have a HR matter you need assistance with, please reach out for business focussed advice and support before acting.