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Posted By John C
Your thoughts on the below please....
Right, lets say an employee has an accident at work. He remains off work for 2 weeks. On his return to work he has a return to work interview and produces an expired medical certificate, which had caused him to refarin from work until that stated date. He states (perhaps in writing at interview) he is 'fully fit for normal duties'.
At this point would you consider it reasonable then send him to work on his normal job?
A barrister has recently suggested to me that I should undertake what amounts to a major interview investigation prior to him returning that includes the examination of whether he is returning purely for monetary reasons.
I would add we have no on-site Nurse/Doctor.
It is also suggested that a person's GP might not know what work the person does and the decision by the GP to say refrain from work until xx.xx.2004 is not a valid consideration for the employer in examining fitness for work.
It has also been suggested there should be a consideration of some sort of rehabilitation for the employee, to enter work on "lighter" duties than normal. This process should be subject to an individual (person) risk assessment (not the job).
Has anyone come across this sort of thing in their experience? How would a small employer cope with such procedure?
John
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Posted By Mike Miller
Hi John,
After reading your thread I do believe that it would be prudent to send the employee home on ‘garden leave’ at the company expense until you have fully investigated the matter. Before an employee returns to work (work related Injury or not) I would have them referred to a qualified occupational health professional for a return to work assessment. In your case you will have to contract this service in.
You can then decide if light duties are required from the report of the medical consultant that you refer the employee to. Make sure that you let the consultant know what the assessment is for because the report and subsequent information will belong to the employee and you will have to seek their permission to have access to it. If they refuse then that would be evidence to suggest that a claim may not be successful because it does not support the employee’s case.
I take your point about GP’s and sick notes but you have to remember that there is a patient/doctor relationship going here and the doctor is not concerned with your company. They have only the patient’s welfare at heart. They do not understand the nature of his job and the work they do, but they are not required to. It is the companies responsibility (as I previously suggested) to make an assessment of occupational health, safety and welfare. If the employees GP had any concerns he would probably write to you to with the employee’s permission and express them. It would then be up to the company to either accept or challenge them.
Has the accident been recorded and reported as a RIDDOR and in the accident book? Or are you still deciding if an accident has occurred? Because if a claim is pending you may get caught out if you have not treated this as an accident from day one. However if no one knew about the alleged accident then the employee may have some difficulty in proving that what ever the injury was, actually happened at work. I am aware of a case that failed on that very point.
I trust that this is useful to you and please continue to let us know the outcome.
Mike
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Posted By Kieran J Duignan
John
As he heart of the matter appears to be the employee's current fitness to fulfil the psychological and physical demands presented by his job, the answer depends on the data you have on both of these factors.
A recent report published by the International Association of Underwriters and the Association of Insurance Brokers emphasised that psychological factors play a major part in most effective return to work programmes (they estimated two-thirds of cases). The title of the report is 'Psychology, Personal Injury and Rehabilitation'; you can download it free from the Publications section of www.aib.org.uk.
So, an option you may wish to consider is getting an independent report on the employee's psychological fitness for work by a chartered occupational psychologist who specialises in occupational health and safety. If you do, ask for specific guidance on appropriate ways of supporting graduated return to work, as the report could later be used as court evidence.
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Posted By Laurie
This comes back to the old chestnut - risk assessment
Laurie
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Posted By Neil Pearson
Use a proper occupational health physician to make an assessment in each such case. GPs are not qualified to do this, and you need consistent reliable advice. It might cost you around £150 a time but it's peace of mind.
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Posted By John C
Thanks to all for your comments.
The question was raised as there were questions raised at a recent ET I had to give evidence at (my company won the ET by the way).
The Barrister for the other side made continuing references to the depth of return to work interviews carried out and the suggestion there is no real risk assessment for an individual returning to work.
It seems to me that the only option would be to employ a nurse on a full or part time basis. I don't believe from the work load (size of company) it would be practical to employ the services of a nurse on a case by case basis. On this basis I can easily see a substantial 5 figure sum, for which they could employ someone anyway and get additional benefits, perhaps with a case to reduce the need for a high number of first aiders and the associated cost.
Anyway, thatnks for your help. One for the management to look at in more depth.
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