07th June 2010 Not so absent anymore

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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.