Heartbeat: Proactively supporting staff with their health

October 19, 2020

A new policy has launched recently which focuses on supporting colleagues to remain at work and to more quickly return to work, looking positively at what colleagues can do rather than what they cannot.

The newly revised and renamed Attendance at Work Policy (formerly known as Sickness Absence) launched on 1 August and is the result of significant joint working and consultation with our trade union partners. The policy has been written to ensure we have robust processes in place to manage sickness absence and to ensure our colleagues are provided with proactive support during times of ill health and to give them the opportunity to return to work sooner, which we know is better for our mental and physical health.

To find out more about the new policy and the changes it brings, Heartbeat caught up with Director of People and Organisation Development Raffaela Goodby, she said, “ The change in policy name has been a deliberate decision in support of the Trusts focus on promoting an attendance culture that recognises that it is generally better for an individual’s health and wellbeing to be at work, ensuring that the focus should be on supporting what an employee can do to remain in work or return to work, rather than focussing on what they are unable to do.

“The policy has changed, for example with changes to the sickness episodes triggers and how we treat multiple absences in a short amount of time. We have also included a firm commitment to the Trade Union Congress ‘Dying to work ‘voluntary charter, which outlines how our colleagues will be treated with dignity, respect and compassion if diagnosed with a terminal illness.

“It’s really important that all colleagues take some time to read and understand the revised policy, as all sickness absence from 1 August (unless being managed within an existing process) will now be managed in accordance with these new parameters. To help colleagues understand the changes, we have drafted a briefing paper, some frequently asked questions and a toolkit of supporting documents. These are available on our dedicated sickness absence page on Connect. We are also planning a series of training sessions and information sessions to help you understand the new policy. “