IN HOUSE DOCTORS AND THEIR EFFECT ON ABSENTEEISM
HR BEST PRACTICES ARTICLE BY THE CRF INSTITUTE
Author: Peter Crush
Ill health of employees still is the second largest cost to employers after wages. The good news however, is that workers don’t need to be sick long if they are properly managed. This article, part of the HR Best Practices series by the CRF Institute, explains that an in house doctor can have a positive effect on absenteeism, illustrated by the ‘Best Practice in HR’ example of Dutch Top Employer Essent.
Providing prevention and support policies positively reduces absenteeism within organisations. Research by the CRF Institute shows that Top Employers that have access to an in-house doctor as part of a formal support policy have significantly lower absenteeism then those who don’t.
Some experts say the average working week in Europe has been pushed up from under 40 hours three years ago to 41.8 hours today. More work being done by organisations with fewer people, means organisations all across Europe are having to focus on one major concern this year: wellbeing.
Although wellbeing is a difficult concept to define, the impact of staff not being well is not, and this article shows just how focusing on creating a culture of wellness is a bottom-line issue HR directors can no longer ignore.
According to Mercer’s recent Pan-European Health & Benefits Report 19% of businesses in European now say they are suffering rising sickness absence (at an average cost to their economies of 1.2% of GDP). Top causes of ill-health (the second largest cost to employers after wages), include stress, fatigue and associated psychological disorders.
The good news however, is that workers don’t need to be sick long if they are properly managed.
Awareness of the impact long hours have on employee health is causing a much-welcomed revival in health and wellbeing strategies. And according to Europe-wide data compiled by the CRF Institute – the company behind the Top Employers certification – there is a direct correlation to those that have wellbeing policies with falling absence rates (such as in the Netherlands, rated high in prevention and support policies, and where absence shorter than 365 days is falling to 3-4%).
In particular, those that have an on-site doctor see a substantial reduction in absenteeism than those who do not. And it’s an experience Marieke Smit, HR Health manager of Essent is fully aware of. The Dutch company (certified as a Top Employer Nederland 2011) is one of the biggest energy companies in the Netherlands, with a turnover of 6.1 billion euros. Essent has five occupational health doctors across different sites, looking after about 4,000 staff in total, and absenteeism is on the way down, to just 3.5%. (Average absenteeism in 2010, shorter than 365 days).
“By Dutch law employers need to have an occupational health doctor who is another doctor than a general practitioner but the key,” Smit says “about our in-house doctors is that they mainly look at work-related issues. This means they assess workers’ capability – anonymously – and give advice about how our staff can change what they are doing to stay working.”
Not only is this causing fewer lost productivity days, Smit says Essent can start to make preventative policies too – seeing what factors cause work place absence, and doing something about them to stop more of it occurring: She says: “For instance we’ve built a toolkit for HR and managers to spot the signs of psychological illness.”
Currently Essent has a team of occupational health doctors. The next plan, Smit says, is to move towards having case managers in the more central position and the doctor in second position. “People don’t need to see a medical doctor in every case,” she says, “but they do need to have their case looked after.”
Proof that having some form of on-site medical doctor/expert in place reduces absence is increasingly more solid. Just a few years ago, one major company in the UK had 7% absence, costing £1million a day. After introducing health screening and health clinics run by professionals at 90 sites, absence was cut to 4.5% within three years.
But the key here, as with the very best Top Employers throughout the rest of Europe, is clearly the impact that having health professionals on-site brings.