In 2009 and average 6.4 days per employee, per annum were lost due to absence, equating nearly a £17 billion hit on the UK economy. These are the latest absence statistics from the CBI and Pfizer employee health and absence report which surveyed senior HR staff at 241 public and private sector organisations across the UK. According to the report, absence has decreased since the last survey in 2007 by 0.3 days – so does this mean we are getting better at managing employee absence?
“There have been improvements in terms of managing absence with more employers implementing robust absence policies; however we believe the recession has played a large role in the decrease of absence rates. Job security has been a major concern during the economic downturn and therefore many have worked during times they feel unwell in an effort to ensure their time off cannot be questioned,” comments Aaron Ross at FirstCare
“Organisations are also now being asked to do a lot more with a lot less which, at times, has put increased pressure on employees. This in turn has sometimes led to increased absence levels because of stress, tiredness, and general feelings of being unwell. Having a comprehensive health and wellbeing strategy has therefore become much more important as the recession has continued. By offering access to services such as occupational health, employee assistance programmes and even gym discounts can all have a positive impact on absence rates,” continues Ross.
And alongside a reduction – albeit slight – in absence levels, employers are getting better at proactively managing this issue within their organisation. The CBI / Pfizer survey shows that 95% of organisations have a formal absence policy in place, representing a rise of 10% compared with companies surveyed in 2007.
Aaron Ross, CEO of FirstCare comments “These findings are encouraging and highlight that many employers recognise the importance of having an absence policy in place. For the 5%, however, that do not have a policy in place it is essential they ask themselves ‘why not?’ By not having a basic absence process in place these companies are unable to ensure that employee absence is being recorded accurately and consistently across the business. This means it becomes increasingly more difficult to identify long term, persistent short term and complex absence cases and therefore the employer cannot action resolution or support early on.”

A key issue for employers emerging from this study is the level of sickness absence within organisations. Many companies, it seems, are sceptical about how genuine employees’ absence really is when they phone in sick.
“This is an issue many organisations worry about, however we at FirstCare believe all absence is genuine – you simply have to find the root cause of the problem.
“Conducting return-to-work interviews after an employee has been absent is one of the most effective ways to do this and at the same time helps control short-term absences. In these interviews a dialogue should be allowed to take place which looks at any issues which could have a direct impact on the absence. For example it could be that financial concerns outside of the workplace are the root cause. If so highlight any support the employer can provide, for example access to an employee assistance programme,” Ross comments.
The introduction of the new fit note system in April this year has already proved popular with 76% of organisations surveyed believing it will help get people back into the workplace sooner. This obviously has clear benefits for employees, engagement and most importantly the organisation’s bottom line. However, something which all employers, HR professionals and line managers should be aware of is a recent article in Personnel Today (15 June) which highlighted that there is a company openly selling fake ‘fit notes’ for under £10. Whilst Doctorsnotestore.com claims these are for novelty use only, it does boast that they are in fact exact replicas and therefore careful scrutiny of the notes may be required. The website isn’t currently breaking any laws, but should an employee be caught using a fake fit note they could be prosecuted by the NHS Counter Fraud Service!
Long-term absence is also a significant issue for UK organisations, according to this research. Although it only accounts for 5% of absences, because employees are absent for longer periods it actually accounts for 20% of lost working days in the private sector and 36% in the public sector.
“Both long and short-term absences are equally important and therefore should be tackled together,” says Aaron Ross. “What is important is the need to identify the reasons for absence, whether it is five spells of one day or one spell of five days, and support the employee early on. By doing so you are able to understand the issues and put resolution in place which can ultimately result in a reduced length of absence,” concludes Ross.

Approximately 3 million carers across the UK are juggling employment and their caring responsibilities, making up over 12% of the workforce or one in every eight employees. And the percentage of carers in the workplace is steadily growing with over 2 million people becoming carers each year.

Being a carer is like having a whole other job on top of your normal employment, family commitment, hobbies and interests. Caring is not a nine-to-five role and, because of its unpredictable nature, can be hard to fit around a paid job. Because of this many feel they have no choice but to cut the hours they work, choose a different career path or give up work completely. But it does not have to be this way and there are simple things which the Government, employers and HR professional can offer to help this vital group manage their work and caring responsibilities.

This year’s Carers Week theme highlights just this. ‘A life of my own’ focuses on the many parts of life that most of us take for granted, for example family gatherings, going on holidays and even just a meal out with work colleagues, and how caring impacts this. It also highlights areas of support which carers themselves have requested in order for them to have a life of their own. These include:

• Access to relevant and practical information to help them with their caring role
• The opportunity to take a break when they need it
• Support in times of crisis
• Financial support

And it is here where employers and HR professional can offer a supportive hand. Last month the Queen outlined in the Queen’s Speech measurers for the extension of the right to request flexible working to all workers. Currently, most carers already have the right to request this but up to 79,000 do notbecause of the way the complex definition of carer has been put together. This provides a great opportunity for you to review your definition of flexible working and policies for carers in the workplace. This will ensure that the carers amongst your workforce have the opportunity to request working flexibly to help them manage their external responsibilities and continue working.

Another area of support is through the provision of employee assistance programmes (EAP). These provide valuable support to those in times of crisis or who are finding life difficult, be it for financial or health reasons by providing access to trained counsellors. If you offer an EAP to your employees, ensure you are communicating the services it offers to all staff and especially those who you are aware are carers. By doing so you can make sure they understand and can access the EAP in a time of need.
Whilst there are many other ways you can help support carers in your business, for example exploring opportunities with the Government’s ‘Caring with Confidence’ scheme and ensuring line managers are supportive of carers’ needs, you can also show your support by signing up to HR Magazine’s ‘Make care less taxing’ campaign. HR Magazine wants to persuade the Government to introduce a single, tax-exempt care voucher to enable employers to help staff who have caring responsibilities for elderly and disabled dependants, as well those who have children.

Research by YouGov for the magazine found that a third of employees who are not currently caring for an elderly relative expect to do so in the next 20 years. With one in 10 of these expecting to give up work permanently or temporarily if they have to care, the worrying impact would be a 3% loss to the future workforce.

A single care voucher would work like the existing childcare voucher scheme, where employers provide vouchers as a benefit, and eligible working parents with children under 16 do not have to pay tax or national insurance contributions on the first £55 per week, or £243 per month. If you would like to sign up to the petition please click here.

The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have joined forces to ensure Britain has a stable Government and have promised that this pact will last until the next election in May 2015. Their policies, whilst not always perfectly aligned, focus on economic stability with the overriding priority being the need to reduce the £163bn public deficit. In order to do so, changes need to be made and the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, has outlined the areas where cuts, to the worth of £6bn, will be made. But what will this actually mean for UK businesses?

Some say the coalition will not work, others believe this leads to a more mature way of politics and thus more mature Government policies. Either way, the coalition plans to be in power for the next five years and has promised to deliver economic stability – ensuring business owners feel significantly more confident in making those important decisions.

With the Conservatives having a much more aggressive approach to reducing public sector spending it came as no surprise that this is the area in which immediate changes are going to be made. Whilst the full extent of the cuts will become apparent in the emergency budget on June 22nd, it is already clear to see that the public sector is set for a difficult time ahead.

Employers in this sector will have to look at doing much more for a lot less and ensuring their processes are as efficient as possible. This will be a period of significant change for those working in this sector, with HR professionals having to communicate the bad news of pay freezes, bonus removals and redundancies. With the severity of the cuts required it is also likely that the use of temporary and agency workers will be limited meaning extra pressure is placed upon employees to ensure businesses and services continue to run effectively. EAPs and occupational health teams are invaluable at times like this, ensuring employees have access to the support services they require and are being looked after from day one.

Employee absence will be another focus point for savings. It is well known that levels of absence between the public and private sectors vary greatly and therefore is an area where better management could save money. Following the Boorman Review in November 2009, Alastair Darling announced £555 million could be saved in the NHS by tackling its absence issues – a figure which FirstCare believes could in fact be £760 million, rising to £1.2 billion as explained by Aaron Ross, CEO of FirstCare in The Spectator article ‘The cure for calling in sick‘. Whilst the coalition has yet to speak out on public sector absence, it is likely to come into scope meaning robust absence policies and the correct systems and procedures to record absence need to be in place sooner rather than later to ensure the estimated savings are made.

But it is not simply the public sector which will be targeted. Whilst both Cameron and Clegg have shown great empathy towards businesses – seen through their partial scrapping of the planned 1% National Insurance tax rise – it is likely that private sector businesses will see tax exemptions being reduced with much more tax on higher salaries and ‘bumper’ bonuses. We will know more next month when the budget is announced, however this could have a knock on effect for employee benefits which offer a tax advantage – a possibility that HR professionals should be aware of.

The Liberal Democrats have always campaigned for greater fairness in the workplace and because of this we hope to see them being influential in this area during their time in Government. The parties agree on the need to tackle pay diversity and inequality and therefore have announced that the former newspaper editor, Will Hutton, will head up a review into pay inequality which will investigate the increasing salary disparity between junior and senior level employees. This is a mark of things to come and HR professionals are sure to see other areas like flexible working being scrutinised.

An important area to acknowledge is the planned abolition of the default retirement age. The coalition has announced that this will happen, yet have not confirmed whether it will be made legislation. However it is done, greater flexibility will be needed in the workplace and HR needs to ensure plans are in place now for when the changes come into effect.

The overarching theme of this new coalition Government is economic stability and the bigger society. Big changes need to be made and some of these may not be positive. Those who are currently not in employment will be faced with a reduction in benefits dependant on their willingness to work and, with the introduction of fit notes, those who are in employment are being made to view absence and work in a very different perspective. These are both clear signals that this will be an era of personal responsibility and therefore businesses and employees alike will need to prepare themselves for a continued difficult climate – at least for the foreseeable future.

According to David Stevenson, Senior Occupational Health Adviser, at FirstCare there are some simple steps that organisations can take to support people with mental health issues. These include:

Introduce policies

Developing a mental health and wellbeing policy shows employees that the company recognises the importance of its workforce’s mental health and wellbeing.

Having an absence management policy will also create clear guidelines for managers and employees on the processes to follow when an individual is absent from work.

Finally, an equal opportunities policy should help avoid discrimination against employees with mental health problems both when recruiting and with existing members of staff. It will also ensure you consider making reasonable adjustments for employees whose condition may be Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) applicable.

Promotion of an appropriate work-life balance and policies

Implementing work-life balance practices, such as flexible working arrangements, and drafting policies won’t fulfil objectives unless they are communicated effectively. Ensure employees and line managers are regularly updated through a mixture of communications activity which could include reminders on the company intranet, briefings at team meetings and articles within internal newsletters.

Train staff

Having a clear policy in place and then training managers so that they can identify signs, symptoms and triggers for mental health problems will enable you to recognise when professional help is required and allow you to provide the appropriate support and advice.

Consider provision of an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)

An EAP is a worksite-focused programme to assist in the identification and resolution of employee concerns, which may or may not affect performance. Employees can contact the EAP in confidence to discuss any problems they are experiencing. In addition to this employers may also wish to consider funding face to face counselling to support an employee back to work, as NHS waiting times can sometimes be quite lengthy.

Occupational health

Referral on to Occupational Health specialists for assessment and advice to co-ordinate the management of employees’ health issues can be beneficial to both the business and employee.

With Occupational Health professionals having the combined knowledge of the individual’s medical condition and type of work, of which many doctors do not have access to, enables them to make a more informed decision about what the employee is capable of doing and advise on any reasonable adjustments the employer can make to help the employee back to productive work sooner.

With the current sick note policy changing in April this year, employees and employers alike will no doubt see a huge change in how absence is recorded and authorised. But what do the changes really mean?

The current sick note system allows GPs to sign an individual off work for a period of up to six months incapacity, before the individual moves into the state incapacity benefit system – a system which has been subject to abuse in some situations. Under the new “fit note” approach the aim is to change the culture to one which encourages a partnership between GP and employer to help those with a disability or a long-term medical condition to return to productive work faster.

Whilst many have welcomed this approach, how it will actually work has yet to be seen with a large number of unanswered questions raised by trade unions, health professionals and employers alike.

A major concern is that the new “fit note” seems to be rather complex with GPs being asked a range of questions. These span from what the patient can and cannot do in the workplace, whether they would benefit from amended duties through to whether any changes should be made to their working environment. GPs themselves have questioned whether they will be able to make the appropriate recommendations from a short consultation with the patient .

Concerns have also been raised around the training of GPs, after all, they are not trained experts in the field of occupational health so will they receive any extra coaching in order to make these recommendations? Other questions which need to be answered are: will there be any consistency and checking of the questioning? What information will they request from the patient and how long will they speak to them? Then there is the risk that some of the recommendations made could prove to be inappropriate or too costly for the employer to make, so what happens then?

A solution would be to include an occupational health professional in the process. Many employers already have access to these services either in-house, out sourced, or via group insurance / benefit policies. FirstCare provide occupational health to organisations which can be either integrated within their absence management solution or offered as a standalone service. Occupational health is a speciality in its own right and as such, experts trained in this area are much better placed to make the judgements required within the new “fit note” system. Occupational health enables businesses to mitigate the risk of cases becoming long term, difficult and litigious whilst supporting the employee back into the workplace utilising all available resources.

Whatever happens, whether the sick note stays or goes, you should ensure that your absence policy reflects the changes to the process and most importantly keeps the elements of best practice. Every spell of absence should be followed up with a return-to-work interview where you can identify the reasons for absence and assess whether the employee is able to do their job as it is. Guidance on the new fit note process has been published this week and the Department for Work and Pensions is urging all employers to visit www.dwp.gov.uk/fitnote to find out more.

For more information on our occupational health services and absence management system please click here.

It is in our interest as employers to help our employees to stop smoking. There is the obvious reason that it is much better for the individual in terms of health to be a non-smoker than a smoker, but then for us there are absence and productivity reasons.

With smoking-related illnesses continuing to rise, sickness absence rates are starting to be impacted. By helping to support your employees to quit smoking, they will begin to see a drastic improvement in their health and also help reduce their risk of serious illness. And as the employer you will see a healthier and happier individual who is less likely to be absent through smoking-related illness.

In terms of productivity, quitting smoking not only helps improve fitness making doing those labour intensive tasks a little easier, but also if an employee succeeds in their effort to quit smoking then they will no longer require those regular smoking breaks.

You can also help support the individual by understanding the issues facing them whilst quitting. In the early stages, many ex-smokers are prone to comfort eating so, if possible, why not make water and fruit readily available. Not only will this add to any health and wellbeing strategy you have in place but it will help employees to form new good habits rather than create another bad one.

The current NHS Smokefree campaign provides smokers with everything they need to quit. Why not help promote this campaign and support your employees further by directing them to the Smokefree helpline number (0800 022 4 332) and the dedicated website (www.smokefree.nhs.uk). Perhaps include these details on notice boards, coffee machines and the company intranet. By posting them prominently you will help employees keep quitting at the front of their mind and on track for giving up.

Serious sufferers of Seasonal Affected Disorder or SAD may well need to invest in both a waking light and a SAD light treatment device such as a medically approved light box.  You can find a list off approved products atwww.sad.org.uk.  The entire website with its advice can be downloaded as a PDF and printed out for staff notice boards.

A good place to start is with an effective diagnosis; as with all suspected medical conditions, a consultation with your GP is essential for this.  In case you aren’t sure whether you should see your GP, there’s a helpful list of symptoms you can consider at the NHS Choices websitewww.nhs.uk/conditions/seasonal-affective-disorder/Pages/Introduction.aspx.

Meanwhile some of us don’t exactly suffer from SAD but do feel a bit blue through the winter.  There are a few things that may help with this.

• encourage employees to leave the building at lunchtime – even half an hour of good daylight every day helps to stimulate the light sensitive pituitary gland and can go a long way to reduce symptoms for SAD sufferers and lift the mood of anybody
• if you can, seat sufferers close to a window and maximise the daylight they do receive
• encourage staff to drink plenty of water, eat healthily and take regular exercise

We’ve long believed that the return to work interview is a vital component in the drive to reduce sickness absence. So much so, that part of our Day 1 Absence Management service (Click through to day 1 absence management programme page)
involves sending prompts and reminders to line managers to encourage them to conduct an RTW as soon as possible after the employee returns to work; preferably within 48 hours.

Having said that, every organisation is different, and will therefore have its own format for the RTW interview. Here are a few elements that you should always bear in mind when formulating yours:

• Hold the meeting as soon as possible; even if it’s a very informal affair lasting just a few minutes, the sooner the better for your records, and for settling the employee back into work

• Treat every case individually. If you’re dealing with someone who has returned after two days off with a cold when they’ve had a perfect record for ten years, you won’t need to cover the same ground as with someone returning after major surgery, or from their twentieth absence this year

• Be fully prepared. Is this a straightforward case, or do you need to involve someone from HR? If this absence was due to an injury, did it occur at work? Are there legal implications? Make sure you have all the necessary information, but ensure that you hold the interview within the 48 hour window

• Have a set form to follow – the structure helps to make the data collected consistent, and avoids any embarrassment over the questions that need to be asked – there’s safety in following a proscribed format

• Look back at older forms for this employee to see if there is a pattern, or whether every absence was due to a different cause. Patterns can be highly informative

• Express genuine concern about the employee’s welfare. There’s always a genuine reason for absence, even if it isn’t the most apparent one. If you suspect the explanation given isn’t genuine, give the employee every opportunity to tell you the underlying cause for their absence

• Listen as much as you talk. This could be your employee’s only chance to tell you about something you’re not aware of that’s affecting their work

• Use the opportunity to discuss any future implications of the absence for the employee’s role. Do they need lighter duties for a while? The earlier you can flag up a problem, the more you can help to ensure their future wellbeing; providing physiotherapy for a musculoskeletal condition, for example, or counselling for stress

• Ensure that the information is collated centrally and promptly. If your employee is close to reaching a trigger point for frequent absences, you need to know and act quickly to get to the bottom of it and alleviate the situation

Any activity where the body is required to perform repetitive tasks can lead to the development of Repetitive strain/stress injury (RSI), but with the increased use of computers both at work and at home, it has become more prevalent amongst office workers.

RSI is an umbrella term for a range of complaints, the most common of which is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, where the thumb and first two fingers are painful and sufferers report a tingling sensation. However the hands, wrists, arms, elbows, shoulders, neck and even the back can be affected. Symptoms include: pain, pins and needles, tenderness, muscle spasms, numbness, swelling, a ‘cracking’ feeling, muscle weakness and restricted movement.

This progressive long-term condition worsens the longer it goes unrecognised and untreated. On the basis that prevention is preferable to cure, here are FirstCare’s tips on how to minimise risks of succumbing to this condition:

• Create an ergonomic workstation
  • Space – ensure there is enough space in which to work, with the area in front of you for immediate tasks and room for lower priority tasks further away
  • VDU – the top of the screen should be at eye level, approximately an arm’s length from your face. Place the monitor on a stand or blocks, if necessary
  • Mouse and keyboard – hold the mouse loosely, and keep it close to the keyboard to avoid stretching; the keyboard should have adjustable feet
  • Light, reflections and glare – position screen to avoid reflections and glare or fit a screen to reduce this. Invest in a desk lamp for extra task lighting, if necessary
• Take regular breaks
  • Set reminders via your calendar, or with a software programme
  • Stand up and walk around the office/make a cup of coffee at regular intervals. Stretch arms, fingers, wrists and shoulders to relax muscles
  • Focus on an object in the distance to rest your eyes

• Correct desk posture
  • Adjust the chair so that your feet are flat on the floor and forearms horizontal. Use a footrest if your feet do not reach the floor. Tilt seat slightly forward and angle backrest to fit into the curve of the spine
  • Learn to touch type to prevent excessive strain on two or four fingers
  • Keep your back straight – do not round the shoulders
  • Position wrists in a straight line with forearms
  • Consider using voice recognition software to cut down keystrokes and a headset for phone use

Some useful sources of help can be found here:

http://www.repetitivestraininjury.org.uk/preventing-rsi.html
http://www.tuc.org.uk/h_and_s/tuc-7697-f0.cfm%20
http://www.rsi.org.uk/pdf/correct_work_station.pdf
http://www.keytools-ergonomics.co.uk/rsi.html

1700 7th August – Telegraph Online – Swine flu “skivers”cost firms more than virus, say employers

Staff using the swine flu pandemic as an excuse to taketime off work are causing more disruption to businesses than the virus itself,according to employers.

Thousands of healthy workers are thought to have taken advantage ofofficial guidelines on the pandemic to extend their summer holidays.

By simply phoning the NHS swine flu hot line or visiting its website, workers can get themselves a courseof antiviral medicine and do not need a sick note from their GP for the firstseven days’ absence.

The Government is considering doubling this period to a fortnight, whichcompanies fear could make the situation worse and cost them millions of poundsin lost productivity at a time when they are struggling with the effects of therecession.

There are predictions that more workers will be tempted to call in sickas the weather improves over the next week, after the wettest July on record.

1600 6th August – Telegraph Online – Swineflu: deaths increase by nine to reach 36 as new cases fall

Deathslinked to swine flu have risen to 36 but the worst of the first wave of thepandemic is over as new cases have dropped significantly, health officialssaid.

The estimated new cases of swine flu last week was just 30,000 comparedto 110,000 the week before, showing that the first wave of the swine flupandemic has now past its peak in England, Sir Liam Donaldson, the chiefmedical officer said.

The number of deaths has increased from 27 to 36 but these have notoccurred in the last week, rather the investigations into whether they arerelated to swine flu have now been completed. Overall two thirds of the deathsare in people with serious underlying health conditions with 12 per cent inotherwise healthy people. A fifth of the deaths occurred in young people, agedup to 15-years and almost one in three of the deaths was in the 16 to 44 yearage group.

11.00 28th July – Telegraph Online

Swine flu could become resistant to Tamiflu due to over-prescribing.

Dr Holden, the British Medical Association’s lead authority on pandemic flu, said he thought the thresholds for issuing Tamifluhad been set too low, a policy which he fears will come back to haunt the Department of Health if the H1N1 virus becomes resistant to Tamiflu.

“Personally I feel the flu line will help to relieve pressure on GPs but my concern is that the threshold for giving out Tamiflu will be set too low. For most people, given that is a mild illness, the amount of medication being given out is over kill.”

As more courses of Tamiflu are distributed, GPs are seeing an increase in the number of patients who have experienced side-effects caused by the antiviral, including nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and headaches.

“Everyday GPs are saying they are seeing people with side effects from Tamiflu,”said Dr Holden.

“People are going for second and third consultations with their GP. It’s putting even more strain on the NHS.”

11.00 27th July – BBC News Online

Flu Infects 100,000 in past week

The number of new swine flu infections has doubled in the past week, according to thegovernment.

There are an estimated 100,000 new cases, with the under 14’s the worst hit. The England death toll stands at 26, the same as last week, but the DOH has reclassified the way it counts mortality. Some of the most recent deaths have been discounted as the flu had no contribution to their death.

Chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson also said that there may be “little bit of possible good news”, as whilst the new cases has increased from 55,000 to approx 100,000, the number of people in hospital has not risen accordingly. He added “there is no evidence to suggest that the virus is getting more virulent. Most people with no underlying conditions will get over the flu perfectly well”.

10.00 27th July – NHS Online

Last week, the government released a Planning Assumptions paper outlining possible scenarios for how the pandemic might develop in the UK. It says that if the current increase in cases continues, up to 30% of the population experiencing symptoms could peak in early September, although a smaller but earlier peak is also possible.

Alternatively, seasonal effects might substantially slow the epidemic in July and August – perhaps to the extent of leading to a decline in weekly cases in August, before resurgence in the autumn, for example when schools reopen. If so, the overall peak of the pandemic might be delayed to October or even later.

These forecasts and others in the report are based on a “reasonable worst case” value and should therefore not be taken as a prediction of how the pandemic will develop. Planning against the reasonable worst-case scenario will ensure, however, that plans are robust against all likely scenarios.

Mortality planning assumptions range from 3,100deaths in the UK to 65,000 deaths in a reasonable worst case scenario.
10.00 14th July

FirstCare’s live database shows that 1 in 217 people are reporting that they are going to be absent from work with cough/cold or flu-like symptoms. This rate is 3 times the usual rate expected for this time of year and the rate has risen by 300% in the last 3 weeks alone.

10.00 11th July

15 people in the UK have now died after contracting swine flu, including a patient without any underlying health problems. England’s Chief Medical Officer says that further deaths of healthy individuals will be rare but cannot be ruled out.

11:00, 15th June 2009

The first death in the UK of a person infected with the H1N1 virus has been reported in Glasgow, this is alongside 140 deaths in the US. In total 1,261 cases have been diagnosed in the UK to present, with almost 500 being in Scotland alone. It is reported that the UK death was not directly down to the virus and that the individual had “underlying health issues”. Globally, it is believed, there have been 30,000 confirmed cases and 164 deaths to date.

16:00, 12th June

On the basis of the available evidence and experts assessments, thescientific criteria for an influenza pandemic has been met. Therefore as ofThursday 11th June 2009, WHO (World Health Organisation) has raisedthe level of pandemic alert from phase 5 to phase 6, the first time that thisphase has been reached for 40 years.

9:00, 1st May 2009 influenza A(H1N1) & Case Update
From today, WHO (World Health Organization) will refer to the new influenza virus as influenza A(H1N1).

Below is the latest case update from the WHO, influenza A(H1N1) web site.

11 countries have officially reported 331 cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection.

The United States Government has reported 109 laboratory confirmed human cases, including one death. Mexico has reported 156 confirmed human cases of infection, including nine deaths.

The following countries have reported laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths – Austria (1), Canada (34), Germany (3), Israel (2), Netherlands (1), New Zealand (3), Spain (13), Switzerland (1) and the United Kingdom (8).

11:00, 29th April 2009 Business continuity
Organisations must take the recent level 5 flu pandemic announcement from the World Health Organisation very seriously; now is the time to put into action Business Continuity Plans.

It is crucial, if you haven’t already got a major incident policy in place, to establish one now.

The key to all plans should be to understand, on a real time basis, the effect of the flu on your organisation and how it will impact business operations. Most large businesses have been working on flu pandemic planning for a number of years but this is the first time most have had to implement them.

It is crucial that the plan is used in a timely manner; Swine Flu has already caught the world off guard and was able to spread across many countries before borders could be closed; organisations cannot afford to let the same happen to them. If you operate a call centre and wait until you have a number of cases of flu before issuing an order to implement home working then it will be too late; up to 30% of your staff will already be infected.

17:00, 28th April 2009 London and Transport
City centres will be the first to suffer in the event of a pandemic. Today’s infrastructure and shared transportation presents the ideal breeding ground for the virus.

London’s tube network is poorly ventilated and whilst modern planes have significant air filtration and purifications process very little is offered on the tube.

We always see higher transmissions rates of viruses in city centres with tube carriages offering least protection, when travelling on the tube commuters often have to hold on to a bar or rail; it is akin to holding hands with lots of people at the same time and not surprising the risk of infection is greatly enhanced.

Someone sneezing in the carriage is not likely to impact a person sitting more than a few feet away, but if that person sneezed into their hand and then gripped the rail again a number of people are likely to hold on to the same spot in the near future. Unless these people wash their hands with sufficiently hot water and soap then they next time they eat a sandwich they are likely to be ingesting the virus.

The first thing to do is to assess the situation, and Day 1 absence management is key to this. The minimum that anyone with a fracture is going to be off work is a day or two, largely for hospital appointments and assessment and treatment of the damage done. Depending on the fracture, your employee may be incapacitated to a minor or serious degree. Ironically, breaking a finger could affect their ability to work more than breaking a leg, depending on their role. You and they will also have to consider their reliance on public transport, and crucially, how successfully they will negotiate your premises while healing.

Can you relocate their desk to the ground floor for a few weeks? Or can they work effectively from home, more or less as normally, communicating with colleagues by skype, accessing IT systems remotely with colleagues, sending vital documents by post and video conferencing client meetings? Can essential team meetings be held close to their home? With the immediacy by the normal routine.

If you need the employee to be in the office, and their doctor feels that he or she is well enough to return despite the mobility impairment, under Health & Safety legislation, you will probably need to carry out a personal risk assessment. You must ensure that they can carry out their job in safety without putting themself or their colleagues at any increased risk – particularly if they are now less mobile and potentially more vulnerable.

Your assessment should take into account aspects such as fire evacuation arrangements for the building and access to facilities such as toilets, as well as the nature of their work itself.

You may wish to consider:

• occupational health assessment
• return-to-work plan
• help with transport
• adapting working hours to allow employee to miss rush hour travelling
• lighter duties for the short term
• time off for physiotherapy or other treatment
• ‘buddy’ allocation for general help and fire evacuation purposes
• temporarily increasing, relocating or adapting the workspace
• providing additional equipment to improve safety and speed recovery
• whether facilitating working from home would be a better option

For further advice, visithttp://www.hse.gov.uk/sicknessabsence/reasonableadjustments.htm

Establishing policies on alcohol and drugs is essential for any sizeable workforce. Most companies would enforce an absolute ban on drugs, other than those prescribed for a medical condition, but alcohol consumption is not always so easy to rule out. For some workers whose jobs require them to drive or operate machinery, it is essential that they have no trace of alcohol in their system during working hours. In some industries, however, socialising with clients is part of the established norm, and moderate drinking under these circumstances is perfectly acceptable; as is moderate drinking with colleagues at lunchtime or after work. Often this is a matter of company culture and bounds are not generally overstepped.

For a small number of people, however, alcohol consumption will become a problem, and difficult to control. There are some tell tale signs that this may be the case. Workers with an alcohol addiction may:-

• have a higher incidence of sickness absence, particularly on Mondays and Fridays
• frequently appear hung over, particularly on Mondays and Fridays
• develop a lateness record
• become noticeably less productive or focused on tasks
• pay less attention to personal hygiene and grooming
• have alcohol on their breath first thing in the morning
• receive more complaints from colleagues or customers

The signs of drug abuse can be more difficult to spot – there’s no smell to be detected on the user’s breath, for example. However, many are similar, as this too can lead to:-

• increased sickness absence
• mood swings
• erratic behaviour
• poor time-keeping
• a change in attitude towards colleagues
• reduced productivity

Just one of these indicators is not enough on which to base a firm conclusion; most could, individually, be attributable to a number of other causes, such as stress, depression, or even new medication for certain conditions. In fact if you do have an employee with a condition such as depression, and they need to change medication, it would be advisable to take advice on whether they need to be absent for a short period. Some medication can make patients feel far worse initially, before they start to feel better.

With any employee who exhibits many of these symptoms, you should monitor the situation and if a more worrying, longer term pattern becomes apparent, then it should be tackled.

Make sure that employees are aware of your organisation’s policy on alcohol consumption and drug abuse. Then make sure that your primary aim is to see this as a health problem; and to help any employees with an addiction to drugs or alcohol to recover. It is unlikely that you will be able to tackle this in-house, so it is essential to at least point the employee in the direction of expert professional help. If you have invested years of training into this employee, it’s in your interests to see them back on top form.

You may need to check out your legal responsibilities in these circumstances, as you have a duty of care as an employer, both to the worker with the problem and their colleagues.

Some useful sources of help can be found here:

www.hse.gov.uk/alcoholdrugs/
www.businesslink.gov.uk
www.drinkaware.co.uk
http://drugs.homeoffice.gov.uk/drug-strategy/drugs-in-workplace/national-workplace-initiative

Every employer has a legal duty to protect the health and safety of their staff, as well as other people who may be affected by your business activity. This may include members of the public, customers, or even suppliers. The following are principles drawn up by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE).

In general, employers must carry out a number of key safeguards. Have you…

• taken every measure needed to make the workplace safe and eliminate or control risks to health?
• ensured plant and machinery are safe and that safe systems of work are set and followed?
• ensured articles and substances are moved, stored and used safely?
• provided adequate welfare facilities?
• given workers the information, instruction, training and supervision necessary for their health and safety?
• consulted workers on health and safety matters?

Visit the HSE website at www.hse.gov.uk for further information.

DIY notice to staff

Please feel free to copy this notice and post it on staff notice boards, newsletters, intranets etc. to help your staff stay safe.

The warmer weather and the longer hours of daylight are enough to send DIY enthusiasts up ladders and into orbital sanding with scant regard for personal safety. But while you may be saving money by attempting the work yourself, you could end up spending more to fix those you get wrong. Worse still, you could end up as a DIY casualty statistic. Here are a few dos and don’ts to help you stay safe and prevent you from needing to call in sick on Monday.

1. Doing your own electrical or gas work isn’t a good idea, and probably isn’t legal either, unless you happen to be qualified – if in doubt call in a trained professional.

2. You may be fully competent with tools, but what about your children? Don’t ever leave power or hand tools lying around for a few minutes while you do something else – lock them safely away or put them out of reach. It may seem a nuisance, but someone else being injured would be far worse.

3. When working on electrical appliances, make sure you have switch off the power and pulled the plug out from the wall socket before beginning.

4. Some commonly used DIY substances, such as glue or paint may be flammable and can give off vapours. Ventilate the room you are working in by opening windows where possible, and don’t smoke, not even near to a surface that’s recently been painted. Always keep a fire extinguisher or fire blanket to hand for emergencies.

5. Wear appropriate clothing and protect your feet when using power tools and lawn mowers. Don’t burn the paint off a window with a blow torch bare-chested or in a bikini top.

6. If you are using a ladder, make sure it is long enough for the job and you don’t need to overreach. Get someone else to hold it steady and prevent it from slipping.

7. Keep products in their original containers and never decant poisonous liquids into empty drinks bottles. They may be too tempting to resist, especially for children.

8. Be very careful with cutting tools and wear gloves. Always cut away from you.

9. Use circuit breakers with power tools, especially if you have any concerns over your wiring.

10. Plan ahead and make sure you have the right equipment. Spur of the moment enthusiasm may be good for your energy and determination – but it also tends to foster the bash it and bodge it approach, rather than the precision and perfectionism you’ll need for great results.

It’s a depressing thought that one in four of the UK population will experience some form of mental health problem in any given year. Mental health problems such as stress and anxiety, as well as some more serious conditions, are on the increase, and it’s unlikely that they won’t affect our work.  What may be more surprising is how difficult managers can find it difficult to establish a rapport with employees returning after a period of absence.  Some find a return to work interview a daunting prospect, but it is a key to getting the line manager and employee back into a good working routine.

It’s sobering to find that career advice from mental health organisation, Rethink assumes that employees will be looking for a new job, rather than returning to their existing one.  And it’s difficult for the employer too.  Most managers aren’t psychologists or psychiatrists and are, understandably, unsure how to deal with someone who has been off work due to a mental health condition. The need for communication, coupled with discretion, is essential. This is where the return to work interview can actually be your friend.  Not only does it aid accurate recording of the circumstances of the return, it also helps to provide a framework for what could otherwise be a very awkward conversation.

It is advisable for the HR department to devise a specific format for the return to work interview after an absence caused by mental illness.  This way, the manager can avoid asking inappropriate questions; and can instead be guided through asking questions which are both sensitive and relevant, without being at a loss for words or afraid to broach a delicate subject.  Understanding the illness from day one will be vital, so real time information, from the first day of absence to the return to work has to be a priority, forming an accurate picture which allows both parties to plan ahead successfully.

Stress can be job-related, due to personal problems, caused by seasonal factors (as with Seasonal Affected Disorder) or even down to poor management or bullying.  Building up a clear picture of an entire department or division can reveal management and bullying problems.  One person suffering stress or anxiety may well be down to personal difficulties, whereas an emerging pattern suggest that something needs to be done to rectify a systemic problem.

It can be difficult to tell which kind of situation you have, especially if you are comparing disparate departments in several geographical locations, with vastly differing roles.   If you have clearer information, you can tell more easily if you need to bring in outside help to support staff or make organisational changes.  A tailored absence management system helps to make comparisons meaningful and equitable, helping you to see the wood for the trees.  In fact it’s better for everyone’s well being.

According to the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE), once you’ve had six months off work, you have an 80% chance of this stretching into five years without working. The implications of this for the worker and the employer are fairly costly. Work helps people to feel fulfilled and well, while languishing at home in poor health on a reduced income would have an adverse effect on anyone’s morale and finances. Similarly, the cost to the employer of a worker who cannot work has serious repercussions for budgetary control and service levels – both of which are already under close scrutiny.

Not surprisingly, the report urges early assessment of the absentee’s condition and a negotiation about a prompt target return to work date. This should be followed promptly by further assessments and a gradual or complete resumption of duties.

At FirstCare, we believe passionately in setting an agreed target date, followed by a return to work interview as soon as possible after the absentee returns. An employee could be back at work in a reduced capacity, even if they can’t handle the role they were performing before becoming ill. However, the last thing an employer needs is to bring someone back who isn’t yet fit to return, or return them to a role that may inherently make them ill again. A return to work interview can highlight potential problems and allow the manager to plan ahead and adapt if necessary, without losing a valuable team member.

The TUC, in response to NICE’s observations, has suggested that disability should be handled differently to ordinary sickness absence, and we’d agree that the two should be treated separately. Without doubt, the more detailed the information you can record, the better the understanding you can gain of your organisation’s absence patterns.

This doesn’t just apply to health care professionals – the same principles can assist most industry sectors in pinpointing problems, especially work-aggravated medical conditions. Once you’ve identified the problem, you can formulate plans to reduce its effects. That’s why it is essential to use an absence management system that has been expertly tailored to your organisation’s exact needs.

All organisations, especially those with multiple departments and locations, need to have contingency plans for major incidents. We’ve been working with several of our clients to devise a model that provides robust processes which will allow them to adapt and react quickly as a major incident scenario unfolds. A large part of achieving continuity in the face of a major incident will be the ability to predict the incapacity of key personnel and the relocation of resources to alternative sites. Together, we are creating strategies for an evolving plan with essential communications. This will allow our clients to plan resources and take vital decisions early on.

The first stage of major incident planning involves identifying who is absent, from which departments they are missing and where the shortages will be geographically. Crucially, FirstCare data will pinpoint which skill sets will be lacking due to each team member’s absence. Some absence will inevitably be due to adverse travelling conditions. Because the data that FirstCare collects also includes how each team member travels to work, it will be possible to identify other team members with similar skills, who travel by unaffected means and who could substitute for absent colleagues. For example, if trains are not running, we can identify someone who walks to work, who could be called in to cover for a stranded commuter.

The second vital planning element is communications. In a major incident, workers will often need to be diverted to alternative locations. In the NHS, for example, departments may need to be closed if insufficient numbers of people with key skills cannot get to work. FirstCare can communicate by SMS, email and pagers to give new instructions to key staff early in the crisis. This may mean that across two NHS sites, one fully staffed team can be assembled, to keep one operating theatre or critical facility open, rather than close two.

This principle can be applied to any industry sector. Filters can be set on a number of criteria; skills, modes of transport, or sheer numbers of staff. These will allow each of our clients to establish trigger points which signal the need to deploy staff to keep services running at optimum levels.

Continuity through a crisis depends on precise, up to date information. FirstCare’s constantly validated data means that accurate records are always available. We are more likely even than line managers to have up to date personal records on team members, meaning than during a major incident, FirstCare information can more easily be relied on than in-house data. Having an outsourced provider of validated data also means that it is still available during a major incident, during which your in-house HR team may not be fully operational.

Outsourcing also helps to provide a fourth element in major incident planning. Because we collect and report data in real time, we see immediately a declining level of absence on any given day. Our clients have the option to set a critical absence level which will trigger an alert that a major incident scenario has occurred. At a pre-determined percentage level of absence, normal operation becomes very difficult, often due to lack of skills and health & safety requirements; but in some sectors it becomes a legal impossibility. FirstCare will determine the moment that a trigger level is reached and immediately notify managers, who can then make effective decisions and plans.

As our initiative on major incident planning develops, we will be looking to add as much information as possible to help our clients through a crisis. These are early days, so if you’d like to be part of formulating this exciting breakthrough, please register here (Click to register interest) and we’ll keep you up to date about further consultations and meetings.

Remote working may not be integral to everyone’s company culture under normal circumstances; but the ability to work from home certainly came into its own under a blanket of snow, a standstill in public transport and some impassable roads. Since climate change definitely seems to be with us, and that could mean summer floods and gales as well as snow, we should all be gearing up to providing business continuity from remote locations – virtual and real. Here are a few tips to help make sure you stay operational despite the weather:-

1) Access to email is crucial – even if you can’t afford to give everyone a Blackberry, you can provide remote access via the internet. If your staff rely heavily on email at work, they will almost certainly have internet access available at home, so make sure they can log on, check for vital messages, communicate with colleagues, and email in completed work.

2) Take weather warnings seriously – we all knew the snow was coming, but many failed to plan. How often do you hear people say that they would get more done if the phone didn’t keep ringing? Instruct staff to take work home in case they get stranded – it could be a brilliant opportunity to catch up on important, but less urgent tasks that can easily get shoved aside in a demanding office environment.

3) Don’t insist everyone comes in if it’s risky. Musculo-skeletal injuries shot up during the snowy conditions as people slipped and fell on the ice. If your staff injure themselves, they could be off work for a lot longer than a day or two.

4) Think laterally – would you rather email a key person an important project to complete at home, or have them spend three hours trying to get in, only to send them away again due to worsening conditions, for a four hour journey back?

With frequent media stories of documents and dossiers left in taxis; and laptops either stolen from cars and pubs, or forgotten on trains; it’s small wonder that the man in the street is concerned that his details are falling into the wrong hands. And no-one could agree more than FirstCare that sensitive personal information must be securely kept.

From our earliest days we set up stringent safeguards and systems that would ensure that the personal details, such as home addresses, employee numbers, dates of birth, and telephone numbers which we hold were safe from prying eyes. This is especially important the longer we work with a client, gradually accumulating limited medical histories on large numbers of employees; so we’ve never let up on being vigilant.

It was a logical next step for FirstCare, therefore, to apply for ISO 27001 accreditation, the international standard Information Security Management System (ISMS) standard published in October 2005 by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). ISO 27001 sets an internationally recognised Standard of Accreditation for the establishment and maintenance of an effective information management system, with efficient and secure working practices and a commitment to continual improvement.

Gaining it endorses our ethical approach to data management, and we see the ISO standard as an additional reassurance. We have in place a continual cycle of review and revision of our systems, to ensure we surpass all our legal obligations and stay up to date on all the issues surrounding data security. Our clients can rest easy knowing that we start 2009 as the only UK absence management organisation with ISO 27001.

The FirstCare team had a great three days at the European HR Directors Summit at the ICC, Birmingham in January. Not only did we learn a lot from the experience, we were also able to impart some of the knowledge and expertise that we’ve gained working with major organisations over the past few years.

If you were there, we hope you saw our presentation with Coca-Cola Enterprises on how Day 1 absence management can improve business efficiency. If you weren’t able to attend but would like further information about this subject, don’t worry; you will get another chance, as we will be hosting another free workshop on the same subject in our London office on Tuesday 17^th March.

Despite perceived increased pressure on employees to be in work, this January has surpassed all previous records for absence after the Christmas break. The increase is primarily due to coughs/colds and flu-like symptoms – and we’re not talking imaginary ‘man flu’. This has been a national problem that encompasses both the public and private sector. The FirstCare medical team attributes the sharp rise to a number of factors, including:

1. A couple of new strains of cold virus appearing in the UK
2. The anxiety and strains of the recession taking its toll on people’s immune systems rendering them more susceptible to catching coughs/colds
3. The extra pressure of job loss forcing employees into the workplace when they should be at home recovering. This can both prolong the recovery period and increase the risk of viruses transferring to colleagues

A huge problem for many organisations has been the significant impact on productivity, with some even enacting part or all of their pandemic planning policies as a result.

The cold snap that we had in the second week of January certainly helped to kill off the virus; and absence rates have fallen closer to their normal seasonal levels; but the anxiety and strains of the recession are undoubtedly still taking their toll on the UK workforce.

The FirstCare medical team expects to see an increase of stress and circumstantial absences throughout 2009. Organisations should act now to ensure that their staff are supported as much as possible. Improving communication with employees is a prudent first step, as many people are unnecessarily concerned about their job security. A little time spent reassuring these employees will reduce their stress and improve their well being.

HR departments should be watching out for key indicators of stress related absence. Coughs, colds and gastrointestinal related absences can all be precursors to long term stress or circumstantial absence. Multiple absence spells in a short period can also be a sign that an employee is unable to cope with the pressure around them. HR managers are well advised to target their stretched resources to introduce and enforce appropriate trigger level alerts to identify and combat this problem.

If you have an Employee Assistance Programme, now is a good time to make sure that all your employees know how and when to use it.

Coughs, colds and flu-like symptoms continue to dominate the news.

In the lead up to Christmas we were seeing a fourfold increase in the number of absences related to coughs, colds and flu-like symptoms. Whilst there is always a seasonal increase in absence trends we have not seen anything this dramatic since we began recording absence rates back in 2005.

Businesses continue to suffer as the number of staff absent increases week by week. The high absence rates before Christmas will undoubtedly continue into the New Year with Monday 5^th January 2009 probably being the sickest day on record.

The current economic climate is also directly impacting absence rates in two distinct ways:

1. Many employees feel it is important to be seen in the work place even when they are not fit for duty; as a result they are passing the virus to their colleagues.
2. The general bleak outlook is taking a toll on immune systems making us more susceptible to viruses.

For many organisations the high levels of absence we will experience in Q1 2009 will be the first opportunity to apply some of the pandemic planning preparation they have been working on for the last couple of years.

On a more positive note, we have seen absence trends related to the Norovirus decline below last year’s figures and we are aware of only a handful of NHS clients experiencing outbreaks, all of which have been contained well.

Employers are advised to take the following steps to minimise risks to their organisations workforce:

Provide fresh fruit in the workplace– the cost of fruit has risen sharply over the last few months and many people on tight budgets are swapping fresh fruit for less nutritious counterparts

Encourage employees to utilise their breaks– taking a short stroll away from the workplace environment helps people to relax and look at the more positive side of life

Ensure good hygiene practices– as people become more worried their immune system suffers which makes them more susceptible to picking up coughs and colds. Thorough hand washing and disinfecting of shared keyboards and phones will help limit transfer of bugs

Be more transparent– Stress and worry is caused by fear and uncertainty; wherever possible try to share information on how the current economic outlook might affect your industry, and what steps are being taken to ensure future stability.

As a result of this sustained increase in absence FirstCare is increasing staffing levels of nurses. This will ensure that we continue to deliver against our service level agreements.

As you may have seen in the press this week we are noticing a significant increase in absence at the moment.

By 08:30 on Friday 3^rd October we had seen a 67% increase in call volumes against seasonal trends.

This unprecedented level is primarily related to the following three absence categories:

• Coughs & Colds
• Flu-like Symptoms
• Stress and Circumstantial Problems

We believe that the increase is related to concerns over the current economic climate. The upwards trend began following the announcement of the demise of Lehman Brothers on the 15^th September and has continued as the headlines continue to report on price rises, the instability of jobs and a crash in house prices.

Clearly these economic woes are causing employees to fear about their future, and the knock on effect of this underlying stress on people’s health is becoming very transparent; we typically see rises in coughs, colds and flu-like symptoms at times when people’s immune systems are depleted such as mid-winter. The concurrent rise in stress-related absence implies that the two are indeed linked.

During these times it is essential that employers do everything they can to reassure staff and try to balance the bombardment of negative news in the press with as much positivity in the workplace as possible.

There are some simple steps we would encourage employers to take:

Provide fresh fruit in the workplace – the cost of fruit has risen sharply over the last few months and many people on tight budgets are swapping fresh fruit for less nutritious counterparts

Encourage employees to utilise their breaks – taking a short stroll away from the workplace environment helps people to relax and look at the more positive side of life

Ensure good hygiene practices – as people become more worried their immune system suffers which makes them more susceptible to picking up coughs and colds. Thorough hand washing and disinfecting of shared keyboards and phones will help limit transfer of bugs

Be more transparent – Stress and worry is caused by fear and uncertainty; wherever possible try to share information on how the current economic outlook might affect your industry, and what steps are being taken to ensure future stability.

As a result of this sustained increase in absence FirstCare is increasing staffing levels of nurses. This will ensure that we continue to deliver against our service level agreements.