Employers to benefit from sickness absence review proposals

The government has unveiled its sickness absence findings and revealed findings of "serious flaws" in the current system for getting long-term sick workers back to work. 

Requested by prime minister David Cameron in February, the review, led by business leader David Frost and health advisor Dame Carol Black, showed 300,000 employees drop out of work for health reasons each year. As a result, this causes £9bn a year in short-term sick pay and associated costs for employers.

In a statement, Frost and Black said: "What we discovered was a system that has serious flaws. We have observed that the current state benefits system fails claimants with ill health by directing too many to employment and support allowance, subsequently declaring most fit for work after a long delay."

Responding to the findings, the review proposed a number of employment law changes, including the introduction of a negotiation process to make it easier for both employers and employees to end an employment relationship, with neither at fault.

The review also recommended tax breaks for employers helping long-term sick workers get back to work and the abolishment of the Percentage Threshold Scheme for failing to promote attendance management. 

The review outlined a number of other key recommendations, including:

• A job-brokering service to be offered to long-term sick workers to find more appropriate employment
• An independent assessment service to provide bespoke advice to employers
•  An independent panel of medical experts, not GPS, should sign off workers for long-term illness

Although the findings showed smaller firms have lower absence, their staff, when they experience ill health, are more likely to move straight to the benefits system. Frost and Black recommended the government carry out further research into this issue.

John Longworth, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said in support of the proposals: "Sickness absence and the rules that surround it are a big problem for UK firms. 70% of businesses believe that the rules on how to handle sickness absence are burdensome.

"On that basis, we welcome the deregulatory measures recommended in this review. All of them, including changes to dismissal rules and the Equality Act, should be introduced by the government without delay to aid firms and boost job creation."