Exciting new research about return-to-work following sickness absence – invitation to a workshop and to participate in the research

Sickness absence costs employers an increasing amount of money: there is therefore an urgent need to improve the effectiveness of employees’ return-to-work. Much of the responsibility for supporting employees’ return-to-work falls on line managers. In turn, line managers are likely to look to OH professionals for support and guidance. However, little is known about the behaviours that managers need to show in order to support return-to-work effectively. To meet this need and fill the knowledge gap, an exciting new research programme will examine the line manager’s role in the return-to-work of employees following sickness absence.  Funded by the British Occupational Health Research Foundation, this research will explore what manager behaviours facilitate (or act as a barrier to) employee return-to-work following cancer, backpain, heart disease and depression and anxiety. The project will generate guidance for line managers, practitioners and employers to help them achieve effective return-to-work, together with a questionnaire tool to identify areas where the line manager may need additional support and guidance.

HR professionals are invited to a workshop on Tuesday 24th February at the CIPD in Wimbledon. OH practitioners are invited to a half-day workshop on Monday 23rd February in London or Thursday 26th February in Loughborough. There will also be a workshop for OH and HR professionals in Scotland in early March. During the workshop we will review current practice in managing long-term sickness absence, placing a specific focus on the important role that line managers play in supporting employees’ return-to-work. There will be an opportunity to share experiences, network, and quiz experts about best practice. The workshop will also seek to gather opinions and draw on participants’ experience. We are looking for people/organisations to participate in this research from the following sectors: manufacturing, education, finance, central and local government, transport and healthcare.

We are also looking for manager and employee participants from organisations in the same sectors (manufacturing, education, finance, central and local government, transport and healthcare). We need managers who are managing or have managed an employee’s return-to-work and employees who are off sick, returning to work or have returned to work following cancer, backpain, heart disease and depression and anxiety. Workshop participants will be asked to help with identifying relevant managers and employees; and participation would be welcome from other organisations in these sectors.

To express an interest in participating in the workshops and/or the research project as a whole, please contact: Ben Hicks at Goldsmiths, University of London, b.hicks@gold.ac.uk