Government launches rehabilitation framework

Workers who become ill are to be helped to stay in their jobs rather than having to leave the workforce prematurely.

Building capacity for work: a UK framework for vocational rehabilitation was published last month by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), and has been welcomed by the TUC.

"Ill health and injury caused by work forces thousands of employees to leave their jobs every year," commented TUC general secretary Brendan Barber. "Too many of them give up work completely because, although they may win compensation from employers, they don't get help getting fit for work. "We need to fine and jail employers that injure workers but we also need a comprehensive occupational health system to help employees get well and keep their jobs."

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has also published guidance on long-term sickness to coincide with the DWP initiative. Managing sickness absence and return to work says employers should:

* keep in contact with sick employees;

* involve them in planning their return;

* enable them to resume work on a part-time basis; and

* adjust or remove any aspects of the job that make their return difficult, or offer an alternative job if necessary.

However, the emphasis in both publications is on the cost to employers (estimated at £3.8 billion a year) and the need for workers to "get back to work", rather than on preventing ill health in the first place.

Building capacity for work can be downloaded from the DWP website at www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/vrframework

Managing sickness absence and return to work is available from HSE Books, price £9.95 - call 01787 8811653.