The annual cost of sickness absence in the UK is forecast at £12bn.

 Headline rates of absence per annum are:

Sector	Cost	Absence
Private Sector	£493 per employee	6.8 days
Central Government	£550 per employee	9.3 days
Public Sector	£557 per employee	10.3 days

Employers with more than 5000 employees = 10.2 days per annum

Capita’s goal is to work with you to ensure an integrated system with a joint objective of a sustainable reduction in days lost to absence of 25%.

Business benefits for organisations engaging in active absence management and rehabilitation processes (HSE):

• Around £11m savings through reduced sickness absence
• 40% reduction in reportable injuries
• Health insurance spend down £200,000 a year
• 50% reduction in civil claims
• Improved productivity and public image.

Further information regarding the background and benefits of absence management can be found in our occupational health bulletin.  To view a copy, please click here.

Dr. Simon Sheard, Medical Director of Capita Health Solutions, believes that occupational health needs to support a manager to question, challenge and support an employee through a period of sickness absence.

“The pre-dominant employment culture is based on a premise that absence is genuine and therefore unmanageable. Our duty as the largest employer and trainer of occupational health professionals outside of the NHS is to develop our teams to show value by ensuring managers are confident to deal with genuine and inappropriate absence and by making employees feel part of an improved social interaction with their employer”.

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Oil & Gas case study