Is the sick note system encouraging people to leave work forever?

Is the sick note system encouraging people to leave work forever?

There has been almost a 300% increase in the number of sick notes being issued for stress-related disorders over the past 10 years, according to a new research paper from the think-tank Policy Exchange.

The report also highlighted what it has described as a “de facto system of self-certification” — how 90% of NHS doctors agree to sick notes, usually without any kind of diagnosis. GPs are simply too busy. Overall the number of fit-to-work certificates being issued has doubled over the last decade.

Never going back

Most worryingly for employers and the future of the UK labour market, Policy Exchange found that of those employees signed off for six months, 80% of them will never return to work.

The findings are being used as evidence to support the government’s new Back to Work Plan, which aims to encourage employees to remain healthy and re-enter the workforce rather than rely on support from welfare benefits. Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Mel Stride has continued to argue that “life’s ups and downs shouldn’t keep people off work”.

Workplaces for health

EAPA UK chair, Karl Bennett said: “Everyone agrees that more openness and acceptance of mental health issues is a welcome development. An unintended consequence has been the worry that some employees are seeing stress as an illness rather than a part of everyday life that can be managed in positive ways.

“Work is known to play a valuable role in good mental health and encouraging resilience, in terms of recognition, rewards and social networks. But we need ‘good’ workplaces where organisations and their HR teams are paying attention to employee experiences and the sources of stress, making use of insights from their EAP partners and the data available — and working in partnership with an EAP and OH to make the workplace a basis of good health.”