Professional body, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) have launched a new guide supporting the case management approach to rehabilitation which aids workers on the road to recovery from mental health complaints and stress.
The guide Recovery, rehabilitation and retention offers guidance to help bosses support workers suffering from such conditions in an attempt to get them back to work.
More than half of employers told the CIPD that they had witnessed an increase in stress-related absence last year and reported that mental health issues have a significant impact on long-term absence levels.
The length of time an individual is off work sick has been shown to have a strong relationship to the likelihood of returning to work. Studies show:
- After six months’ absence there is only a 50% chance that an employee will return to work
- At 12 months this falls to 25%
- After two years there is practically no chance
The CIPD advise employers to implement rehabilitation policies and say that line managers play a vital role in the process:
Ben Willmott, CIPD Employee Relations Adviser commented: “It is important they are trained so they are aware of how they can help members of staff who have been off work sick for long periods integrate back into the organisation.
“It is essential for a member of the organisation, whether it is a line manager, a member of the HR team or occupational health, to take on the role of case manager in the rehabilitation process to ensure that it is managed correctly and consistently.”
