From ‘Sick-Note’ to ‘Fit-Note’ – High profile conference tackles sickness absenteeism in the workplace

Good health for the workforce is good for business. In the current economic climate it’s even more important that we cut the £100 billion per year cost of worklessness caused by ill health.

A conference organised by the East of England Regional Assembly (EERA), UNISON, GMB, Unite and Local Government Employers on 15th December at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford will focus on understanding the crucial relationship between health and work. This conference will show how positive management of employees’ physical and mental health can lead not only to a reduction in sickness absence but to greater staff engagement and productivity as well as a reduction in staff turnover and recruitment costs.

The public sector employs around 6 million people – or 22% of the workforce. In recent months, incidents of high absenteeism in the public sector have grabbed the headlines. Every local authority should have effective health and safety policies in place with a clear commitment from management to support them.

The overall statistics are quite staggering.

· Absence levels in the public sector remain the highest at an average of 9.8 days per employee per year;
· Among public services employers, those in the health sector recorded the highest average level of employee absence at 11.7 days per employee per year. These figures compare sharply with those recorded among private sector organisations where the average level of absence remained static at 7.2 days per employee per year;
· Over two million people suffer from illnesses that they attribute to their work – mostly stress, depression and anxiety.

These figures mean not only increased costs for employers due to days lost but also personal suffering, family hardship and costs to individuals.

Dame Carol Black, National Director for Health and Work, who released her groundbreaking report into the health of Britain’s working age population in 2008, will be a keynote speaker at the event. In response, the Government released their ‘Improving health and work: changing lives’ report in November 2008. Lord McKenzie of Luton, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department of Work and Pensions, will describe the Government’s continuing response to Dame Carol Black’s report one year on.

Other speakers include:
· Graeme Henderson, Department of Health, who will describe the fit for work programme and progress to date.
· Dr Steve Boorman, who is leading the review of health and well being in the NHS which will report later this year
· Jane Willis, Director of Cross Cutting Interventions, Health and Safety Executive
· Steve Sumner, National Health, Safety and Well-being Policy Advisor, Local Government Employers

Cllr Ian Nimmo-Smith, Chairman of EERA’s Local Government Employers’ Panel said: “We know that sickness absence is economically, socially and personally harmful. A healthy workforce with a positive outlook provides better public services and saves money. This conference will provide an opportunity to hear well being case studies both from within the region and more widely.”

Greg Grant, Eastern Regional Director of UNISON, and Chair of this conference said: “Employers would save millions and deliver a better service by digging into and removing the underlying causes of illness in the workplace. We know that many employers are failing to tackle workplace sickness, long hours and job insecurity, all of which take a toll on workers’ health and their families.”

Who should attend

The conference is essential for public sector leaders including Councillors, Chief Executives and other senior managers, Human Resources, Organisational Development and Health and Safety professionals, along with all those who have an interest in employee wellbeing.

The fee for this event is £125 + VAT. To book a place, please visit http://events.eera.gov.uk/4741.

Ends

Notes to Editors:

For further information or to arrange an interview with an EERA spokesperson, please contact:

Claire Sefton, Tel: 01284 729427 Mob: 07920257940 Email: Claire.sefton@eera.gov.uk

Stephen Hinchley, Tel: 01284 729430, Mob: 07710 312237, Email: stephen.hinchley@eera.gov.uk

For further information about the event, contact Sue Houlder, Conference Organiser, EERA, Tel: 01284 729421 or email sue.houlder@eera.gov.uk


East of England Regional Assembly
1. The East of England Regional Assembly is independent of Government and is not a Government agency or quango. It represents the regional interests of people living and working in the East of England.

2. The Assembly has 96 members of which two thirds are elected councillors (from the 52 local authorities in the region) and one third are stakeholder representatives. Its meetings are open to the media and general public.

3. The Assembly is the designated Regional Planning Body for the East of England until March 2010 when it will cease to exist.

4. During 2008/09 EERA’s work included:
£1 billion bid for investment in public transport and roads across the region including final stretch of A11 dualling
Campaigned against a second runway at Stansted Airport
Held EEDA to account at six Economic Summits
Influenced European funding programmes worth £500 million to support employment, skills, climate change and low carbon economic growth
Delivery of 328 training courses to develop thousands of local authority employees and councillors in the region
For more information on EERA, see the website at www.eera.gov.uk

Local Government Employers Panel
Cllr Ian Nimmo-Smith (Chairman), Liberal Democrat, 01223 365484
Cllr Jim Ranger (Panel Group Leader), Conservative, 07831 587342
Cllr Philip Smith (Panel Group Leader), Labour, 01375 361180