Retention and absence

Staying in Work Service

As the UK's largest not-for-profit employment organisation, we understand how important it is to keep your most valuable asset working well. That's why our Staying in Work service offers you a comprehensive absence management and retention resource.

We help employers tackle medium and long term absences by supporting employees who risk going on sick leave because of a health or disability issue. We focus on working out the best way to help someone return to work, either with your organisation, or redeployed to another. We design a practical, holistic support package to fit your needs.

By doing this, we help you to:

• reduce the risk of losing staff and the costs of replacing and retraining them
• decrease time lost due to absence
• maintain the wellbeing of your employees
• reduce the cost of medical retirement

The service can be used as a cost effective resource to enhance existing in-house Occupational Health functions, or it can stand alone.

How It Works

1. We provide the service either on a spot purchase basis, under the terms of a service level agreement, or through deployment of a specialist Employment Adviser, whichever best suits your organisation.

2. You refer your employees when they have been off sick for a period of time, or when you are concerned they are at risk of going sick.

3. A Shaw Trust Employment Adviser meets the employee and carries out an initial assessment to determine the best way to support them to stay at, or return to work.

This assessment may include:

• Personal profile and vocational questionnaire
• Employer/medical reports
• Stakeholder details
• Ergonomic/IT/medical assessment
• Job/skills analysis
• Workplace audit
• Financial/benefit calculation

4. An action plan is put together and agreed by everyone involved. Shaw Trust provides intensive support to the employee and timely management information to the employer. This may include:

• Mediation and liaison
• Job design/modification
• Access to Work application and use of Government programmes
• Support and information for colleagues
• Reasonable adjustment
• Personal development planning/training
• Job trialing
• Job coaching
• In-work benefits guidance

5. Other specialist support can be made available according to the employees' individual needs. This may include Condition Management – enabling people to self manage chronic pain, minor mental ill health, cardiac problems etc., counselling, or other specialist medical interventions.  Our Mental Health Service provides a portal to many support organisations for employers who need reliable and up to date advice on supporting employees that they think may be experiencing mental ill health.

Shaw Trust is able to provide some of these services. Otherwise, we call upon the expertise of our established network of delivery partners and trusted providers.

6. We continue to provide on-going support to both the individual and the employer as needed. This is done by a mix of regular visits, phone calls and review meetings as appropriate.

7. Typical outcomes are:

• Return to work in current job within your organisation
• Return to work re-deployed within your organisation
• Return to work with new employer
• Medical retirement
• Unemployed on Incapacity Benefit (referred to our Employment Service)
• Permitted or voluntary work
• Enrolled in training or education

What's Different About Our Approach?

We've developed our expertise working with thousands of employers and people with disabilities and health issues for more than two decades. So we know how to provide workable solutions.

• Our 'honest broker' approach has proved successful in building positive relationships with employees to get the return to work process started.
• Our intensive one-to-one service ensures that employees receive all the support they need to continue working, and that employers maintain a workforce that feels motivated and cared for.
• We have been successful in achieving improved return to work rates - over 80% of the people we have worked with make a successful return.

Testimonial:

The partnership initiative so far has provided working opportunities through the Workstep programme for over 60 people many with PAN disabilities. At present, we have 21 people who are on twelve month contracts, but 27 have gained permanent posts with the force from Analyst to clerical officers, drivers and porters, a diverse variety of posts.

Shaw Trust has also provided help and support through the Staying in Work programme for other members of staff who have long term illness. This helps to get staff back into the working environment after long term illness through support and rehabilitation. To date, both schemes have proved successful with other public sector bodies now showing interest".

Diversity & Equality Manager, West Midlands Police Force.


For more information on how we can help improve medium and long term absence, please call Cam Nicholl on 07973 234489 or e-mail: cam.nicholl@shaw-trust.org.uk

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