Statutory health assessments due for 95,000 workers

Scots workers will be referred for statutory health assessments if they are absent for more than four weeks amid plans to abolish compensation for firms paying long-term sick pay, the Department of Work and Pensions said.

Up to 95,000 workers in Scotland were on sick leave for over a month each year between October 2010 and September 2013, according to DWP figures.

The numbers have been released for the launch of the Health and Work Service, a new statutory referral scheme involving a work-focussed occupational health assessment and case management for employees in the early stage of sickness absence.

It is expected to save employers £70 million a year and will be funded through the abolution of the statutory sick pay percentage threshold scheme (PTS), the DWP said.

PTS, which provides some compensation for employers faced with high levels of sickness absence, is “an outdated system which does nothing to promote or support active management of sickness absences by either the employer or employee”, according to the DWP.

Any financial loss to business from the ending of the PTS is expected to be offset by a reduction in lost working days, earlier return to work and increased economic output created by the new scheme, the DWP said.

The Health and Work Service is designed to help employees who have been on sickness absence for four weeks to return to work, and support employers to better manage sickness absence among their workforce.

Work and Pensions Minister Mike Penning said: “More than 130 million days a year are lost to sickness absence in Great Britain, which has a substantial impact on workers, employers and taxpayers.

“As part of the Government’s long-term economic plan, we are taking action to get people back into work. This is a triple-win. It will mean more people with a job, reduced cost for business, and a more financially secure future for Britain.”