Managing Sickness Absence and Return to Work


Book Description

Offers practical advice and suggests steps you can take to help employees following injury, ill health or the onset of disability. This book aims to help you reduce sickness absence, improve competitiveness and the productivity of your business, as well as protecting the well-being of your employees. It is suitable for employee representatives.




Ask a Manager


Book Description

From the creator of the popular website Ask a Manager and New York’s work-advice columnist comes a witty, practical guide to 200 difficult professional conversations—featuring all-new advice! There’s a reason Alison Green has been called “the Dear Abby of the work world.” Ten years as a workplace-advice columnist have taught her that people avoid awkward conversations in the office because they simply don’t know what to say. Thankfully, Green does—and in this incredibly helpful book, she tackles the tough discussions you may need to have during your career. You’ll learn what to say when • coworkers push their work on you—then take credit for it • you accidentally trash-talk someone in an email then hit “reply all” • you’re being micromanaged—or not being managed at all • you catch a colleague in a lie • your boss seems unhappy with your work • your cubemate’s loud speakerphone is making you homicidal • you got drunk at the holiday party Praise for Ask a Manager “A must-read for anyone who works . . . [Alison Green’s] advice boils down to the idea that you should be professional (even when others are not) and that communicating in a straightforward manner with candor and kindness will get you far, no matter where you work.”—Booklist (starred review) “The author’s friendly, warm, no-nonsense writing is a pleasure to read, and her advice can be widely applied to relationships in all areas of readers’ lives. Ideal for anyone new to the job market or new to management, or anyone hoping to improve their work experience.”—Library Journal (starred review) “I am a huge fan of Alison Green’s Ask a Manager column. This book is even better. It teaches us how to deal with many of the most vexing big and little problems in our workplaces—and to do so with grace, confidence, and a sense of humor.”—Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author of The No Asshole Rule and The Asshole Survival Guide “Ask a Manager is the ultimate playbook for navigating the traditional workforce in a diplomatic but firm way.”—Erin Lowry, author of Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together




Health at work - an independent review of sickness absence


Book Description

Every year 140 million working days are lost to sickness absence. Most end with a swift return to work, but over 300,000 people a year fall out of work onto health-related state benefits. This Review aims to stop as many people as possible from needlessly moving away from work because of ill health, and to find ways of improving the coherence, effectiveness and cost of the system for managing sickness absence. There are potential major gains for employers, who spend £9 billion a year sick pay and associated costs, and the state, which spends £13 billion annually on health-related benefits. Currently the majority of people seeking a medical certificate are signed off as completely unfit. Until this is addressed, employers cannot make adjustments to help those people whose illness is compatible with a return to work. The central recommendation is that the Government should establish an Independent Assessment Service (IAS) which would provide an in-depth assessment of an individual's physical and/or mental function. It would also provide advice about how an individual could be supported to return to work. The service would replace GP certification. Other recommendations include: tax relief for expenditure by employers on medical treatment/vocational rehabilitation; abolishing the Percentage Threshold compensation scheme and the record-keeping obligations under statutory sick pay; introduction of a job-brokering service for long-term sick employees; end the Employment and Support Allowance assessment phase so as to improve and speed up the benefits system; improved processes in Jobcentre Plus.




The Management of Staff Sickness Absence in the National Probation Service


Book Description

This NAO report examines sick leave in the National Probation Service, which was running at 12.3 days per person in the 2004-05 period at a cost of £31.6 million. A number of recommendations have been set out as follows. That the National Probation Directorate should agree with the Chief Probation Officer a consistent minimum standard for collecting and reporting sickness absence data in their areas. This in turn could be used to produce comparative analyses, and offer a basis to diagnose the causes of sickness absence. An upgrade in some areas of their information technology systems should occur, so that better management information can be compiled. All probation areas should implement the mandatory elements of the national policy on sickness absence. All Chief Officers should review their action plans for reducing sickness absence. Sickness absence should be managed effectively but sympathetically, by including return to work interviews, along with a means of distinguishing between avoidable and unavoidable sickness absences, and addressing the culture of absenteeism. Long term sickness absence should be reviewed as a matter of urgency. Policies relating to work/life balance should be implemented nationally.




Concepts of Rehabilitation for the Management of Common Health Problems


Book Description

Although there is broad agreement on the importance of rehabilitation and the need to improve occupational health and vocational rehabilitation in the UK, there is considerable uncertainty about what 'rehabilitation' is, and about its cost-effectiveness, particularly for the common health problems that cause most long-term disability and incapacity. This paper seeks to develop a theoretical and conceptual basis for the rehabilitation of common health problems. Chapters include: traditional rehabilitation and the need for a different approach; illness, disability and incapacity for work; the biopsychosocial model and framework of disability; obstacles to recovery and return to work; clinical and occupational management of common health problems; personal responsibility and motivation; and rehabilitation in a social security context.




Presenteeism at Work


Book Description

Coming to work sick may do more harm than staying home - for the employee, the team, and the firm. Whilst the cost of absenteeism in organizations has been widely acknowledged and extensively examined, the counter-issue of 'presenteeism' has only recently attracted scholarly attention as a phenomenon that harms employee wellbeing, disrupts team dynamism, and damages productivity. This volume brings together leading international scholars from diverse scientific backgrounds, including occupational psychology, health, and medicine, to provide a pioneering review of the subject. International in scope, the collection incorporates both Western and East Asian perspectives, making it an informative resource for multinational companies seeking to formulate human resource strategies and better manage their culturally diverse workforce. It will also appeal to scholars and graduate students researching human resource management, organization studies, organizational health, and organizational psychology.




The management of staff sickness absence in the Department for Transport and its agencies


Book Description

Ministers have challenged all Departments to reduce their 2004 sickness rates by 30% by 2010. This report looks at the sickness levels in the Department of Transport and its seven executive agencies, which average 10.4 days sickness for each full-time employee (compared to a Civil Service average of 9.8 days). However the performance is varied. The central Department and four agencies have sickness levels at or below comparable organisations but three agencies have higher levels and the Driving Standards Agency and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency have absence rates of 13.1 and 14 day respectively. If there is going to be a significant change there needs to be action at the corporate and individual business level. Corporately there needs to be: targets for each part of the Department, tailored to circumstances; quality standards for recording sickness with the provision of management information; a consistent framework for evaluating initiatives and sharing good practice. At a business level more could be done to ensure that line managers were aware of their responsibilities and improve intervention in long-term cases.




Key Topics in Healthcare Management


Book Description

Information is a key resource to primary health care and is increasingly required in individual practices. This book will demystify the subject, which is often presented in complex terms. It sets out in a simple and interesting way what information those working in primary care will need, the systems required to deliver them and how to set them up. Information and IT for Primary Care uses exercises, stories, key points, case studies, model answers and think boxes. Worldwide web links refers the reader to resources and shows how to get the most out of your computer. The book is user-friendly, jargon free and based on primary research evidence. It is essential reading for everyone working in primary care organisations including GPs, practice managers and nurses, and staff working in community trusts and the NHS.




Handbook of Work Disability


Book Description

​This book addresses the developing field of Work Disability Prevention. Work disability does not only involve occupational disorders originating from the work or at the workplace, but addresses work absenteeism originating from any disorder or accident. This topic has become of primary importance due to the huge compensation costs and health issues involved. For employers it is a unique burden and in many countries compensation is not even linked to the cause of the disorder. In the past twenty years, studies have accumulated which emphasize the social causes of work disability. Governments and NGOs such as the World Bank, the International Labor Organization, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development have produced alarming reports on the extent of this problem for developed and developing countries. However, no comprehensive book is presently available to help them address this emerging field where new knowledge should induce new ways of management.​




The management of staff sickness absence in the Department for Transport and its agencies


Book Description

The Department of Transport and its seven executive agencies average 10.4 days of sickness for each full-time employee (compared to a Civil Service average of 9.8 days). However the performance is varied. The central Department and four agencies have sickness levels at or below comparable organisations but the Driving Standards Agency and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency have absence rates of 13.1 and 14 day respectively. On the basis of a Comptroller and Auditor General's report the Committee have examined current sickness levels in the Department and actions being taken to meet their 2010 targets. They conclude that the Agencies need a better understanding of why some staff take so much sick leave. Although there appears to be a correlation with low paid repetitive administrative jobs there are also concerns about leadership within the Department. Measures have therefore been taken to strengthen management in areas involving repetitive work.