Since its introduction in 2005, 68 companies have opted to participate in this programme and have together received 43 cheques totalling over £1 million for simply absences early.
The scheme is open to any company insuring over 250 staff with L&G’s Group Income Protection, Workplace Recovery. A bonus of 5 per cent of annual premium is payable, providing the employer notifies of at least 80 per cent of their long-term absences by the sixth week of absence.
L&G says the approach has driven down average notification periods from 19.1 weeks to a little over 9 weeks. It says it now returns 73 per cent of all long term absentees back into the workplace.
L&G claims and medical underwriting director Vanessa Sallows says: “As well as helping employees return to work, there are may other employer benefits that have emerged. The programme enables long-term as well as persistent short term absences to be identified and addressed at a much earlier stage, giving employers a lot more control over how staff and costs should be managed.
“And Involving an independent specialist not only seems to eliminate any personal issues, it also encourages employees to be more open. It also provides a valuable support to HR and line managers who are often not equipped to handle such conditions as those related to stress. It’s also had the effect of deterring those individuals who regularly take extended sick leave.”
Serena Tilston, HR manager at Admin Re UK says: “This early notification initiative has provided us with more control over our absenteeism as well as given us appropriate support to help our staff.”