by Brianna Crandall — August 26, 2015—According to the Building Futures Group, the trade association for the U.K. FM/cleaning industry, an exemplary new U.K. government-funded program has been created to give employees who have a health condition the support they need to stay in or return to work.
Fit for Work was created to help doctors, employees and employers across the country combat the estimated statistic that long-term sick leave costs U.K. businesses around £9 billion annually and further reduces the country’s economic output by £15 billion per year. The new initiative provides free, expert and impartial work-related health advice to employees and employers.
There are two elements to FfW: free work-related health advice via a Web site and telephone line; and referral to an occupational health professional for employees who have been off sick or who are likely to be off sick for four weeks or more.
Once referred, employees will be contacted within 24 hours, and they will receive an assessment by a health professional within two working days. This person will be their case manager. A Return to Work Plan will then be drawn up to enable the employee to return to work.
General practitioners (GPs) will be able to make referrals across the U.K. by the end of the summer, and all employers in England and Wales will be able to refer employees directly from the fall. Employers in Scotland can make online referrals from summer 2015.
