Government Attempts to Tackle Health-related Job Loss

Earlier this month the government published a consultation on how to reduce heath-related job loss. The consultation explores what government and employers can do to help retain employees with disabilities and those coming back to work after long periods of sick leave.

Government figures suggest that sickness absences costs employers £9bn a year and ill health which prevents people working costs the economy around £100bn a year. To reduce these figures, the government is looking at several proposals to reform Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) and equip employers with more guidance on how they can support their employees back into work after sick leave.

One proposal of particular interest to recruiters is a new right to request workplace modifications on health grounds for those employees who do not meet the definition of a disabled person under the Equality Act 2010 and are not, therefore, covered by the obligation to make reasonable adjustments. Employers will in turn be able to refuse the request on “legitimate business grounds”. However what is and what is not legitimate business grounds is disputable and not written in stone.

The government hopes that by extending the right to request workplace modifications, more employees will get the support they need to stay in work. However it fails to recognise the complications which may arise for recruitment agencies and their agency workers. Since agency workers are treated as employees for PAYE tax and Class 1 National Insurance contributions (NICs), they will also be entitled to request workplace modifications from the agency rather than the end client. Therefore the implication of the policy proposals set out in the consultation is that if a worker’s request to workplace modification was refused, it would be the agency’s burden to prove the refusal was on legitimate business grounds. We will be looking for feedback on this from members and how this change might affect employment businesses in practice.

The government is also looking to transform the current SSP. Under the new plans employees returning to work after long periods of sick leave will be granted the flexibility to gradually return to work without losing out on their SSP. There are also proposals to expand the scope of workers who qualify for SSP, such as those who earn less than the Lower Earning Limit, and to strengthen the compliance and enforcement of SSP.

The REC will be submitting evidence to the consultation, the deadline of which is 7 October 2019. We would like to hear from you and will be surveying members and collecting case studies. Please get in touch on Ornella.nsio@rec.uk.com.