Upcoming Events :
Housing Seminar: Partnerships with the Public Sector – Avoiding the pitfalls
Thu 31 May 2012
Minerva House, 5 Montague Close, London, SE1 9BB
Employers welcome advantages of fit note
Wed 14 Dec 2011
The introduction of fit notes has had advantages for many businesses in the UK, a new poll has found.
Research by Simplyhealth and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) found that most employers believe line managers have been more able to talk to members of staff about their health issues since the policy was launched last year.
CIPD said this shows they have been able to promote "good quality conversations" between workers and their bosses, which in turn has led to improvements in managing staff absence.
However, the organisation noted that since delivering a phased return to work requires a "culture change" among employees, employers and doctors, absence levels have not yet been reduced significantly.
Dr Jill Miller, an adviser at CIPD, added that employers do not necessarily view fit notes as favourably as GPs at the moment.
She said this shows they both need to "work from the same page" in order to promote the best way to deal with a member of staff's health problems.
This comes after David Frost, former director-general of the CBI, and national director for health and work Dame Carol Black suggested setting up a new Independent Assessment Service to deal with long-term sickness absence.
Sue Kelly, an employment partner at Winckworth Sherwood, commented: "Although we can see the case for the new Independent Assessment Service, particularly to advise smaller businesses on occupational health matters, we have seen little cause for optimism arising out of the introduction of fit notes as such."
