The new Health & Work Service, which is a government funded occupational health service, is due to go live in April 2015, with a roll-out from late 2014. The Department for Work and Pensions has issued a press release announcing that the contract for the new service for England and Wales has been awarded to Maximus, one of the largest occupational health providers in the UK.
Employees off sick for more than four weeks will be referred to the new service by their GP. A report will then be produced, following an assessment of the employee, to help integrate the employee back into the workplace. The assessment will be carried out by internet and/or telephone.
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Kate Fretten Employment Partner says, "The new service is certainly a good idea in principle. However, given the fact the report will be produced entirely on the back of questions being answered without an employee actually being seen by an occupational health expert, it is questionable how useful the reports will be." Employers will have very limited, if any, input into the process. As usual, the devil will be in the detail and we will have to wait and see how effective the new service is at helping employees off sick back into work.
At Frettens, all of our solicitors offer a free initial meeting or chat on the phone to answer your questions. If this article raises issues for you or your business, please call us on 01202 499255 and Kate or Paul will be happy to discuss it with you.
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