More than eight out of 10 employers (82%) agree they play an important role in helping employees return to work after ill health, research from insurer Aviva has concluded.

The poll of 504 employers also found that nearly three-quarters (74%) feel that their organisation is good at supporting employees back into the workplace after illness.

The research has come as the number of people economically inactive because of long-term sickness has reached 2.8 million, with this cohort a key target of the government’s ‘Get Britain Working’ white paper.

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Nearly half of the employers polled (45%) wanted more guidance on how to best access support services such as occupational health, vocational rehabilitation support and wellbeing services to help prevent ill health.

The same percentage wanted more help in making these services affordable through incentives or tax concessions. A similar number (43%) felt that government should have a greater focus on public health and support people to live healthy lives.

While most medium and large employers taking part in the survey had defined processes to assess and address an employee’s return to work, the research revealed a significant gap in the support available from micro and small-to-medium-sized businesses, which account for around 95% of UK plc.

More than half of businesses employing one-to-nine employees said that they did not have any return-to-work processes in place (51%) and three quarters had no vocational rehabilitation or occupational health support.

By comparison, just 5% of employers with more than 100 employees said the same.

More than half (53%) of companies with 100 or more employees offered OH support and more than a quarter (26%) vocational rehabilitation assistance to employees returning to work following long-term sickness absence.

Significantly fewer micro-SMEs offered early intervention support such as occupational health (5%) and vocational rehabilitation (5%).

Larger organisations were also more likely to offer wellbeing benefits (45%), private healthcare (38%), employee support groups (38%) and digital GP service (26%).

Jason Ellis, Aviva’s sales and distribution director for group protection, said: “The UK is seeing more and more people leave the workforce due to ill-health, and this trend is likely to continue.

“Employers play a crucial role in addressing this issue, so it’s reassuring to see many companies have processes and support systems in place to help employees return to work and stay there after experiencing health problems.

“It’s essential that employers intervene early and that an employee’s return to work is carefully managed. Expectations should be agreed upon and clearly communicated from the start, with progress checked and adjustments made as the employee’s circumstances change. Without a clear, transparent strategy, there’s a risk the employee might have an unnecessary extension of absence,” Ellis added.

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