Workers face health assessments if they're off sick for four weeks

[Dedworth]

Workers will be referred for health assessments if they are sick for more than four weeks under a new scheme to be launched by the Department for Work and Pensions.

Under the Health and Work Service scheme, assessments will carried out by occupational specialists to draw up a plan and timetable to get the patient back to work quickly.

Employees will be referred by a GP or their employer but the assessments are not compulsory.

Up to 960,000 workers in Britain were on sick leave for more than a month each year between October 2010 and September 2013, according to new figures released by the DWP.

Employers face a yearly bill of around £9 billion for sick pay and associated costs, with individuals missing out on £4 billion a year in lost earnings.

The DWP believes the scheme, to be launched in Scotland, England, and Wales, will save employers £70 million a year and cut the time people spend off work by 20% to 40%.

The Work and Pensions minister Mike Penning said: "More than 130 million days a year are lost to sickness absence in Great Britain, which has a substantial impact on workers, employers and taxpayers.

"As part of the Government's long-term economic plan, we are taking action to getting people back into work.

"This is a triple-win. It will mean more people with a job, reduced cost for business, and a more financially secure future for Britain."

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/workers-face-health-assessments-if-theyre-off-sick-for-four-weeks.1391940217

:xxgrinning--00xx3:

This needs to be rigorously enforced within the Public Sector (particularly Police Forces) where serial lead swinging is endemic

[joebloggs]

will save employers £70 million a year and cut the time people spend off work by 20% to 40%.



£70 million a year, i think that's the wage bill for Newscastle FC :icon_lol: and what will it cost to run this scheme :cwm25:, and i take it the employers are not paying for it :doh

[grahamw48]

4 weeks ? :cwm24:

Idle buggers.

Strict enforcement ! :mad:

[joebloggs]

4 weeks ? :cwm24:

Idle buggers.

Strict enforcement ! :mad:

well MP's 'work' about 145 days a year, while your average joe works 224, lets get these :NEW5: to do the 224 days before people start attacking police officers who do a dangerous job compared to people sat behind a desk all day whining :NoNo:

http://metro.co.uk/2013/11/25/mps-give-themselves-an-extra-weeks-holiday-in-2014-to-make-way-for-scottish-referendum-4200567/

[grahamw48]

I don't care whether they're 'average Joes' or MPs (or school teachers). 4 weeks 'sick' is taking the piss.

The CONTRACTED hours of work are irrelevent, having been accepted and agreed to by both sides before the employment was taken up. If the public don't like it, then complain to those in a position to change the status quo...otherwise it's just sour grapes, or envy based upon ignorance.

For a lot of my working life I have worked about 15 hours a week, with virtually zero days off due to sickness , and no pay if nothing produced. A self-employed Consultant.

When I was in the Civil Service, it was accepted that you took the maximum number of 'permitted' paid sick days. Seems that little has changed, except perhaps the sickness 'allowance'.

[Dedworth]

As an average Joe (zero sickies in last year) like Graham I feel that 4 weeks on the sick is taking the absolute piss. Our Armed Forces do a dangerous job but there won't be the same proportion of them lead swinging as the Police who as we know reward their bad apples with long periods on the sick before citing it as grounds for early full pensioned retirement. Talking about sick, idle and bloated Police Officers I thought some sort of slightly realistic annual fitness test was going to be introduced :mad:

[stevewool]

well, we have a few blokes who are sick for weeks on end, you know they are not but what can you do, 1 bloke is off sick when cricket is on tv, but you try and prove it

[Dedworth]

well, we have a few blokes who are sick for weeks on end, you know they are not but what can you do, 1 bloke is of sick when cricket is on tv, but you try and prove it

Shirkers like that make me sick

[joebloggs]

:icon_lol: if i and probably most people worked only 145 days a year like MP's meaning you've got 20wks+ paid holiday a year then there probably wouldn't be any sick days :biggrin:

don't call cops and others :censored: for doing physical and dangerous jobs while MP's are sat behind a desk or more likely on their holidays on a good wage , at taxpayer expense :airline:

[Dedworth]

We're not talking about MP's Joe they're not supposed to abide by any rules or situations/circumstances the average Joe feels are right and normal. They got elected and took the job on knowing they'd only have to turn up 145 days a year - except Bottler Brown of course :smile:

[joebloggs]

its Mp's who come up with this scheme, MP's whocan afford 2 or more homes, cleaners and nannies

:icon_lol: well maybe you can tell me the number of sick days Mp's have :icon_lol:

they got it easy, most people only get 18 days + bank holidays a year, try and look after your kids when the schools shut for 13wks a year :biggrin:

[Dedworth]

:icon_lol: well maybe you can tell me the number of sick days Mp's have :icon_lol:



Loads :biggrin: and it's very difficult to slot them in between numerous all expenses paid fact finding missions to choice overseas destinations

[grahamw48]

Joe, nobody is stopping any of us from putting ourselves up for election. :smile:

[grahamw48]

Oops...have to go. Clarkson and co are on ! :biggrin:

[joebloggs]

Joe, nobody is stopping any of us from putting ourselves up for election. :smile:

well maybe i would get elected as a Salford MP if my manifesto was to get all MP's to work 245 days a year and not moonlight doing 2 or 3 extra jobs as execs on corporate boards, but i doubt i would get far in parliament with 600+ against me :biggrin:

[Dedworth]

Taxpayer picks up bill for hundreds of police officers signed off with stress

Exclusive research by Telegraph shows at least 800 officers across England and Wales have stress-related conditions

Nearly 800 police officers are off work on full pay due to stress-related sickness, costing the taxpayer millions of pounds a year, it can be disclosed.
The Telegraph can reveal 787 officers are currently signed off for stress across 35 forces in England and Wales.
It means the taxpayer is funding a wage bill estimated at more than £550,000 a week for officers who are suffering stress-related illness, at a time when the total number of officers has fallen to its lowest level in 11 years.
The true number of officers off with stress will be far higher - possibly more than 1,000 - because eight of the 43 forces in England and Wales failed to provide data under the Freedom of Information Act.
One of the most significant findings of the survey was that smaller, largely rural forces have some of the highest proportions of officers off work with stress.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/10625003/Taxpayer-picks-up-bill-for-hundreds-of-police-officers-signed-off-with-stress.html

Lazy lead swinging wasters :mad:

[joebloggs]

dedworth have you ever been attacked doing your job :cwm25:
these police officers have to deal with the 'scum' you often post about, but face to face not from the safety of your home while sat on your pc :wink:

FIFTY-FOUR police officers are attacked every day in the UK, according to new figures released this week.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/409515/Assaults-on-police-soaring

[grahamw48]

The system needs changing.

There would be less assaults on police if the current laws didn't favour the perpetrator.

Also, perhaps police recruitment and candidate selection could be looked into.

Stop recruiting so many women and runts of men.

Minimum standards of physical fitness a must, and to be maintained.

Our police, above all need to command respect.

[Dedworth]

dedworth have you ever been attacked doing your job :cwm25:
these police officers have to deal with the 'scum' you often post about, but face to face not from the safety of your home while sat on your pc :wink:

FIFTY-FOUR police officers are attacked every day in the UK, according to new figures released this week.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/409515/Assaults-on-police-soaring

I'd take this with a pinch of salt - it's been revealed recently that there has been gross manipulating of crime statistics by Police Forces and UK Statistics Authority has withdrawn its stamp of approval from the data.

Most of the leadswingers are reported as being from "Heartbeat" type rural areas not hard inner city environments. The Police are better equipped than ever to deal with scrotes - cs sprays, tasers, armed officers etc. As Graham says a long look should be taken at the calibre and ongoing fitness of officers.

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02168/overweight-police_2168435b.jpg

[Slip]

We currently have a bloke off at work because he has a sore neck, he has been off a month already. Not saying he is lying, but he is the type that if he sneezed twice he would be off with the flu! I could hardly turn my head a few years ago when I pulled the muscle that goes from the neck to the shoulder, but I still went to work, fool? maybe. Infact the only thing that I have had time off for in the past 3 years was 2 weeks for Bronchitis about 18 months ago...

[joebloggs]

it's from the express so it must be true dedworth :biggrin:
do you ever go out on a Friday night dedworth, you must see the :censored: heads, the fights, and who has to deal with them :doh

[les_taxi]

it's from the express so it must be true dedworth :biggrin:
do you ever go out on a Friday night dedworth, you must see the :censored: heads, the fights, and who has to deal with them :doh

I have to pick them up,coppers are more than happy for me to whisk em away.We have a police convalescent home up here,known locally as crippled coppers home (sorry it's a bit of fun)
These guys many with no real injurys spend most of the time in the pub-i take em back to the home.
Its a real ticket if you can blag your way in.
But I don't mind as I totally support the police and most of em are great.
It's silly comparing them to mps

[joebloggs]

dedworth mentioned police not me :biggrin:

mp's have come up with this scheme, they work on average 145 days a year, they've got a :censored: when most people work 245 :mad:

[tiger31]

they should aim this strictly at goverment workers because they know they will get away with it because the tax payer is picking up the tab ,dam coppers are the worst culprits I believe.

[Dedworth]

dedworth mentioned police not me :biggrin:

mp's have come up with this scheme, they work on average 145 days a year, they've got a :censored: when most people work 245 :mad:

TBH Joe - you brought up MP's who are a case apart from ordinary folk, I mentioned Police as probably along with teachers the most persistent public sector leads swingers. Les & Tiger also know that many idle, bloated & unfit officers are not the fearless up & at 'ems you visualise.

[Jamesey]

I really don't see the problem with this policy. It should be after 2 weeks, not 4!

If you're off sick for that long, there must be something seriously wrong, so there will be no problem with taking a health assessment.

I've hardly ever taken a day off in my entire working life. Although I've been lucky in never having a serious health problem, there are too many abusing the system. Bring is the assessments!:xxgrinning--00xx3:

[grahamw48]

Well said mate.:xxgrinning--00xx3: