What is absence?
In employment terms it is any period of time when an employee should be working but is unable to for a number of reasons – holidays, sickness, maternity leave to name but a few. The CBI claims it costs organisations nearly £12 billion although they believe that over 90% of sickness absence is genuine.
Surveys of sickness absence over the last few years usual find that absence is greater amongst manual workers and absence rates are lower in smaller organisations. The surveys also identity that in order to reduce levels of absence and save businesses money effective management of sickness absence and employee health must move up the agenda for most firms.
The survey also found that where a specialist function was responsible for absence management the number of days lost was considerably lower than where it was a management responsibility. Michelle Harvey-Jones of Harvey jones HR and change management says "many firms don't realise how a simple process that helps to monitor absence and makes their employees more accountable for their absences can significantly reduce the number of days employees take off unnecessarily." Michelle offers top tips for absence management e.g. have a welcome back interview with your employee – find out why they have been off and if they think they may be off again, and are they really better.
The market for absence management services is developing and a number of major healthcare players are now offering or developing specialist absence management services. A couple of these services are outlined below.
Medical Insurance companies have recognised that employers need more from their scheme. Pruhealth have come into the market this year with a scheme that rewards staff financially for staying healthy. Norwich Union Healthcare offer 24 hour stress counselling helplines and even money back on everyday healthcare costs such as glasses. Debbie Kleiner-Gaines from Best Health uk, a specialist medical insurance broker says "if a company has a medical insurance scheme in place with no representation by a specialist broker, it is likely that the staff have never had a presentation about the scheme. There is no point in offering staff medical insurance if they are not made aware of the benefit and how to use it. Whatsmore, if the company has not had an independent review, it is unlikely that they will even know about the range of products in the market. Who has time to review the market annually?"
About the Author:Best Health Insurance for Private Health Cover
