There are now a record number of employees with long-term or chronic conditions. Supporting them to stay in work and thrive is not a topic often discussed by the group income protection sector. But in our view it should be.
Better support can help reduce absence, improve productivity and stop individuals falling out of employment altogether. This matters for economic and societal reasons, but also can make a real difference to employees and businesses.
As well as all the practical, strategic and the ‘it’s just the right thing to do’ arguments, there’s a legal side to this too.
Because it’s also an Equality Act matter. Under this 2010 Act, any physical or mental impairment is protected if it has a ‘substantial and long-term’ effect on an employee’s ability to do normal daily activities. Long term is defined as at least 12 months.
This means that, wherever possible, employers should proactively attempt to understand an employee’s condition and how it impacts them. Ideally this should be from the outset, when an employee returns to work after a period of absence.
This can be done through a joint employee/ employer ‘Wellbeing Action Plan’. This will likely include assessing whether reasonable adjustments need to be made, to help the individual do their job.
It might not be immediately obvious that GIP can help with all this. Although propositions will vary between providers, support should be available for all stakeholders, including employees, HR and line managers.
For HR and managers, this includes access to vocational rehabilitation clinicians, who are experts in all aspects of the Equality Act and disability. This includes helping design appropriate adjustments and information on completing these action plans.
For employees, access might also be provided to long-term condition support services, to help facilitate self-management through health trackers and medication management, or support and information from others with the same condition.
Supporting employees with a long-term condition to stay in work and thrive may also be considered an inclusion issue. It is now generally agreed that good work is beneficial for health. So supporting an employee to stay in work is simply good practice — for individuals and for business.
Recent research from Engage for Success shows that when organisations provide effective support and adjustments for neurodivergent employees or those with long-term conditions, employee engagement levels are comparable to those without any conditions.
Employees with a long-term condition who received reasonable adjustments were 19 per cent more likely to intend to stay with their organisation over the next three years. They were also more willing to offer discretionary effort and support colleagues.
Providing the support people need demonstrates they are valued. And feeling valued is the number one determinant of workplace productivity, according to data from Fruitful Insights.
This applies to all employees, but is particularly relevant to those with chronic conditions, where a low sense of feeling valued results in a significant £9,400 productivity loss per employee. Even for those without any health condition, feeling undervalued in the workplace results in a £7,700 productivity loss per employee.
So, it stands to reason that when employees feel valued, substantial improvements in productivity can be achieved. In fact, the data suggests that for those with a chronic condition, these productivity losses are almost halved,
to £4,800.
It’s worth a note of caution here. Employers must guard against the idea that employees should be 100 per cent productive all the time. As our partner organisation Fruitful Insights points out, thinking you can achieve these levels of productivity might only lead to work-related stress and burnout — which will have a more negative impact on absence and productivity over the longer term.
The important point is those that feel valued by their employer are likely to be more productive. So, the focus should be on bringing the tail up.
All of this is particularly timely and pertinent considering the government’s Get Britain Working review too. In fact, it’s difficult to find a valid reason not to discuss this increasingly important aspect of GIP.
