In the UK 8.2 million working-age people have work-limiting health conditions, and each year over 300,000 people leave the workforce entirely due to health conditions – predominantly musculoskeletal or mental health conditions. Poor workforce health is estimated to cost UK employers up to £150 billion a year – equivalent to £5,000 per employee – through lost productivity, sickness absence and recruitment costs.
Only 3% of employees with work-limiting health conditions return to work after 12 months of sickness absence. However, early and effective use of occupational health ("OH") professionals can be a key tool that employers can use to prevent an employee's mental health condition leading them to take long-term sick leave.
1. Early intervention
Referring an employee to OH as soon as you are on notice of a mental health condition can ensure that appropriate support is put in place to assist them. Empowering employees to remain in their role and to maintain good performance may reduce the risk of them struggling with their role and entering a vicious cycle of poor performance creating stress and anxiety, and in turn undermining performance further.
2. Workplace adjustments
OH providers may suggest adjustments that the employer can implement to support the employee, although the employer is not automatically obliged to implement their recommendations. The employer will need to consider whether the adjustment is workable from a practical perspective and reasonable, taking into account both their size and resources.
However, reasonable adjustments can be a key means of supporting an employee in remaining in their role and ensuring that they do not feel that they have no option but to take sick leave. An employee may be more willing to have an open discussion with an occupational health specialist about what support they need, which in turn facilitates effective support.
In order to ensure that recommendations are suitable and reasonable, it's important for employers to ensure that an OH provider is properly briefed about the employee's role and responsibilities and has access to adequate information about the employee's health. This can be challenging in mental health cases where the occupational health provider may have to rely primarily on the employee's description of their symptoms. Employers should review the effectiveness of their OH provider to ensure that are sufficiently skilled to evaluate information provided to them rather than always taking it at face value.
3. Return to work planning
OH providers can also create tailored return to work plans which take account of the employee's mental health condition, the symptoms of that condition and any relevant triggers to ensure that employees feel supported in their return to work and that they do so in a gradual, manageable way. This in turn helps to prevent employees from feeling overwhelmed and reverting to sick leave.
4. Maintaining contact and support
Where an employee is on sick leave, an OH provider can act as a third party that acts as a source of support to the employee. They can help to maintain a line of communication between the employee and employer, ensuring that they are not solely communicating via sick notes (which are often very limited in content and do not provide much guidance for employers on how they can support the employee's return to work).
5. Collaboration between the employer and the affected employee
Involving OH can facilitate an open, honest conversation between the employer and the employee in which they work together to promote a working relationship that works for both parties.
Want to hear more from us? 
