HR Articles

A change in the law from 1 July 2022 increases opportunities for employees to be signed off work when sick. Nurses, occupational therapists, pharmacists and physiotherapists can now sign statements of fitness for work, also known as GP’s fit notes. This change has been brought in to ease the burden on GPs.

From this week, people in England identified by NHS Test and Trace as being in contact of someone testing positive for COVID-19 are now able to opt in to take part in a trial of daily lateral flow device testing as an alternative to self-isolation.

Lockdown restrictions are set to be eased further on 17 May 2021, and many employers are beginning to welcome their employees back to the workplace. While it is understandable that employers will be focused on protecting their employees’ physical health, ensuring that its workplace is Covid-19 secure, consideration should also be given to how employers can safeguard their employees’ mental health.

The April 2021 statutory maternity, paternity and sick pay rates have been released by the Government. The increases are modest at less than £1 per week.

With the high and rising number of employees needing to self-isolate while awaiting Covid-19 test results, businesses need to understand their sick pay obligations.

According to The Government's Department of Health, 25% of us will experience mental health issues at some point in our lives. A study conducted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

The Government’s Fit for Work assessment scheme is to end following low referral rates, marking the beginning of a revised strategy to get more disabled people into the workplace.

Under the Equality Act 2010, a person with a progressive condition (such as Type 2 Diabetes) has a disability if they “have a physical or mental impairment” which “has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities... as a result of the condition.”

Whilst the rate of employment for the non-disabled population is currently 80%, only 48% of disabled people are in employment. This inequality has led the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Department of Health to jointly publish a Green Paper, “Improving Lives” to look at “one of the most significant inequalities in the UK today”.