Reducing sickness absence crucial to UK businesses
Employment Law & HR update 24/10/2011
According to MP Esther McVey, the 'unsung heroes' of the UK
workplace are line managers, as they help to manage staff
absence.
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of State for
Employment Ms McVey told a Legal & General round table event
that line managers played a crucial role in reducing the absence of
other staff.
The event, which was held to discuss how best to manage absence
and sickness within the workplace, was scheduled just prior to the
upcoming Sickness and Absence Review.
The review, which was commissioned back in February of this
year, called for a detailed review of the UK's sickness absence
system. Currently, around 150 million days of work are lost each
year due to sickness absence.
Ms McVey said, “For the sickness and absence review’s
conclusions to be implemented effectively, line managers will be
the crucial front line force, they are the unsung heroes of the
British workplace.”
According to a recent absence management survey carried out by
the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, 'Line
managers take primary responsibility for managing short-term
absence in two thirds of organisations overall and more than
three-quarters in the public sector.'
The report also revealed that line managers 'took responsibility
for managing long-term absence in 55 per cent of organisations
overall and for 73 per cent of the public sector.'
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