Early intervention has always been our mantra. The sooner an absence is reviewed and the appropriate action taken to put a plan in place for a return to work, the better the outcomes. Short of spotting any warning signs for problem before it escalates to an absence, there’s no better time for early intervention than […]

Many businesses across England are resuming operations after almost seven weeks in lockdown, employees are being encouraged to return to work, providing working from home is not possible; whilst employers are now required by law to comply with government sector specific guidelines to ensure the workplace is COVID-19 secure and with the necessary precautionary measures […]

We recently attended the Health and Wellbeing @Work conference in Birmingham where Senior Researcher from Tilburg University Dr Margot Joosen presented her findings from a study focusing on returning employees to work who were or had been absent with a mental health issue.

The Resolution Foundation published a report titled Retention Deficit in June 2016 to discuss the challenge of increasing employment level among disabled people. This article provides a summary of the report and recommendations. All the recommendations put forward here are those of the report authors. Despite the employment rate sitting at a record high, the […]

The Institute of Employment Studies (IES) published a review of presenteeism in May 2016. Occupational Health & Wellbeing reported that the headline finding of the report was that presenteeism can be beneficial. Reading the report itself, it is obvious that the writers use a different definition of ‘presenteeism’ from the one we at Honeydew would […]

So you have an employee who is absent with a long term ill health condition. As the manager you wonder what the future looks like for the employee. What is their prognosis? When are they likely to be able to return to work? Will they be able to do their job in full when they […]

We’ve written about this before, but now it’s finally here. Employers in England and Wales are now able to refer employees to Fit for Work, the government service set up to help working people on long-term sickness absence. Fit for Work provides occupational health services to people who have been, or are likely to be, off work […]

Focusing on getting the ergonomics right in the office, this simple 3 step plan will help you understand and prevent the causes of Musculoskeletal Disorders. What causes Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs)? Musculoskeletal disorders are caused by the effects of stress placed on your joints, muscles, nerves, tendons, ligaments, cartilage and spinal disks.

Myth! Whilst dealing with depression or stress, shutting yourself away from everything for a while can feel like the best thing to do. But it isn’t necessarily the best antidote to these feelings.

Lord Freud said recently “Providing support where it’s needed most will help to reduce the length of time employees take off sick which in turn will cut sick pay costs, improve economic output and reduce the chance of people falling out of work and having to claim benefits”. It is for this reason that the […]