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End of the road for sick notes?
Last week the Government announced details of the new 'Fit Note'. It is intended to replace the current MED3 sick note. The ‘Fit Note’ is designed so that people get good advice about staying in work and, if they cannot work, what their employer can do to help them return to work sooner. The intention is to prevent employees having unnecessarily long sickness absence.
Background
The new arrangement comes out of the Government’s ‘Improving Health and Work: Changing Lives’ response to Dame Carol Black’s report published on 17 March 2008. In ‘Working for a Healthier Tomorrow’, Dame Black stated that the focus should be on “what people can do instead of what they cannot, and potentially improving communications between employers and GPs”. The report noted that the use of an electronic certification system linked to GPs' surgeries computing systems would promote quicker and easier communication between GPs and employers, giving the potential for ‘Fit Notes’ to be passed between them electronically if the patient agrees. The report recommended promoting the positive relationship between health and work.
Health Minister Ben Bradshaw stated; “Getting people back into work quicker is good for their health as well as the country’s finances. The Fit Note will give GPs a new opportunity to benefit their patients and I look forward to it being used in surgeries everywhere”.
Developed with the support of healthcare professionals, employer representatives and trade unions, the new ‘Fit Notes’ will roll-out across Great Britain in the Spring of 2010 with the aim that ‘Fit Notes’ will be computer-generated in GPs surgeries, replacing the current hand written version.
Rather than just having one 'fit / unfit' to work choice, as per the current MED3 form, the new 'Fit Note' will contain suggestions as to how an unwell individual can be eased back into work. The revised certificate has already been tested by more than 500 GPs' surgeries.
However, Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the BMA Council, issued a note of caution stating, “The GP must continue to act as the patient’s advocate, not a policing arm of the Department of Work and Pensions”.
Date posted: 18-Aug-09
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Skills fit for the Queen
Measures to increase workplace equality, extend flexible working rights, reform the welfare-to-work process and boost skills featured in the Queen's Speech this morning.
The Queen outlined the government's legislative plans for 2009 in a short ceremonial speech to the House of Lords.
The draft programme was re-written in a bid to tackle the worsening economic crisis. But there was still room on the agenda for the Equality Bill, the Welfare Reform Bill and the Education and Skills Bill.
"A Bill will be brought forward to reform the welfare system, to improve incentives for people to move from benefits into sustained employment, and to provide greater support, choice and control for disabled people," the Queen said.
"My government will bring forward a Bill to promote equality, fight discrimination and introduce transparency in the workplace to help address the difference in pay between men and women."
The Queen added: "My government will bring forward a Bill to reform education, training and apprenticeships, to promote excellence in all schools, to improve local services for children and parents, and to provide a right for those in work to request time for training."
The extension of the right to request flexible working patterns to parents with children up to the age of 16 will go ahead as planned in April. Some employer groups had argued that it should be postponed due to the economic crisis.
Since the Draft Queen's Speech was announced in May, the credit crunch has tightened its grip on the UK, with banks being nationalised, unemployment soaring, and recession now imminent.
Date posted: 03-Dec-08
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Redundancy and Age?
There has been a fall of 9,000 in the number of people in employment between the ages of 50 and 65, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.
One thousand men and 8,000 women over 50 have left employment in the three months prior to June 2008. No other age group over 25 experienced a fall in numbers.
Chris Ball, chief executive of TAEN, The Age and Employment Network, said: "Even though the age regulations mean using an individual's age as the basis for selection for redundancy is likely to be unlawful, it is the way many employers have traditionally tackled the task when they have needed to cut staff numbers."
This comes only weeks after a Vodafone survey found 70% of job workers over 50 felt fulfilled in their jobs compared to only half of employees aged between 25 and 31.
Date posted: 14-Aug-08
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22 Million to Train by 2010
Up to 22 million UK workers will benefit from government plans to allow employees the right to request time to train, according to John Denham, secretary of state for Innovation, universities and skills.
If the legislation passes through Parliament, employees who have worked for their employer for at least 26 weeks could have the right to request by 2010.
Employers can apply for funding through the Government-run Train to Gain scheme, which will dish out upwards of £1 billion a year from 2010. Each year, companies are estimated to spend £38.6 billion of their own money on upskilling their workforces.
"We need to find new ways to bring the drive for skills to every worker which is why we are consulting on a new right for workers to request time to train," said Denham. "A third of employers still don't train their staff. In other organisations training does not involve everyone. The employers who do not train run real risks with their businesses."
The initiative was buried deep in the Prime Minister's draft legislative programme, first announced on May 14 this year.
Date posted: 19-Jun-08
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The Return of Long Hours?
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: “After slow but steady progress over the last decade, long hours working is making its way back into Britain’s workplaces. Employees across the UK already work the longest hours in Western Europe and the recent increase will mean lower productivity, more stress and less time to have a life outside the office with friends and family.”
In the first quarter of 2008, the total number of people working long hours increased by 0.5 percentage points (180,000 people) to 3.3 million. The sharpest increases in long hours working occurred in the East of England (up 2.1 percentage points) and London (up 2 percentage points). Between 1998 and 2006, the number of people working more than 48 hours was reduced by 3.7 percentage points (707,000) from 3.8 million to 3.1 million. The analysis also finds that 85 per cent of new long hours workers are male.
Date posted: 06-Jun-08
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