|
Projecting the figures across the whole workforce suggests that 172 million days were lost due to workplace absence in 2007, compared with 175 million days in 2006. The direct cost to the economy is estimated at £13.2bn.
The research revealed that long-term absence accounts for 43% of all working time lost costing UK business £5.8bn.
Employers can reduce long-term absence by cost-effectively clinically managing the employee’s safe return to work. The way the NHS works is often unhelpful to the employers in managing absence. This includes how rehabilitative treatment is deployed, the waits that can be incurred, and the fact that throughout the process there is no vocational focus.
Vocational focus is key in ensuring that the treatment provided not only aids recovery but is geared to regaining the most appropriate function to assist in an early and safe return-to-work. |
