Third of employers not helping long-term absent employees return to work

A third of employers (31 per cent) do not make any early  interventions to help staff return  to work in the event that they’re absent for longer than six months owing to ill health, disability or injury.

Similarly, thirty-two per cent of employers don’t have any financial support in place for staff if they are absent for half a year or more.

That’s according to research among 500 employers carried out by GRiD, the industry body for the group risk sector.

Of those employers that do not offer return–to–work interventions for employees, over half (52 per cent) said they can’t afford it and a third (32 per cent) believe that it is not their responsibility. 

Similar reasons were cited when employers were questioned about why they don’t offer financial support. Over half (58 per cent) of those employers who don’t offer financial support, claim they can’t afford to do so and a third (30 per cent) believe it is not their responsibility. 

Of the employers who do offer early interventions to support a return to work for long-term absent employees, 50 per cent provide this for all staff (40% via insurance and 10% by self-funding).