Diane Buckley, Legal & General’s Group Protection Managing Director, has this morning responded to the latest Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) statistics released by the Department for Work and Pensions.
The statistics, released quarterly, show that, for all new Employment and Support Allowance claims from 27th October 2008 to 30th November 2010, the result of the initial Work Capability Assessment is:
· Support Group – 7%
· Work Related Activity Group – 17%
· Fit for Work – 39%
· Claim closed before assessment complete – 36%
· Assessment still in progress – 1%
Commenting on the figures, Diane Buckley said:
“These new statistics continue to highlight the importance of getting the right support in place to help people at work when they are ill. 39% of ESA claimants were found to be Fit for Work- there is a clear need for early and tailored individual support for employers to help their employeesin the workplace.”
Notes:-
Legal & General’s approach to getting people back to work
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Every year, around 350,000 make a transition from work to incapacity benefits - many of these people could, and want, to go back to work (Working for a Healthier Britain, Dame Carol Black’s Review Of The Health Of Britain’s Working Age Population, March 2008). Responsible employers can look after their staff by supplementing state sickness pay with enhanced and prolonged sick pay at a reasonable cost. Legal & General’s Group Income Protection cover, Workplace Recovery, can provide additional benefits in the form of early intervention and rehabilitation to help employees back into the workforce more quickly and effectively.
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Group Protection (or Group Risk) benefits are provided by employers to their employees. They provide employee benefits that are paid if an employee dies in service or while they are unable to work because of illness or injury. The Group Protection market covers approximately 1.8 million people for income protection insurance and over 7.3 million people for life insurance cover. Legal & General’s Group Income Protection policy, Workplace Recovery, has a proven track-record of helping employees make the journey back into work. Our Group Protection portfolio is already large and growing. We have over 180,000 people covered by a Group Income Protection Policy. Each year we receive over 2,000 new absence notifications and we also pay benefit to around 1,800 employees.
The need for specialist intervention: 15% of GPs often see patients who have been dismissed from their job during an illness
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Britain’s family doctors routinely see patients who have been dismissed from their job during an illness. The findings, in research conducted by ComRes on behalf of Legal & General and released in March 2011, show how some employers are struggling to manage workplace ill health and absence. The survey also shows that 50% of GPs saw patients who have been dismissed from their job during an illness ‘a few times a year’.
The Government’s sickness and absence review
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These survey figures are released at a time when the government is beginning to review the way it handles absence in the workplace. The review, announced by the Department of Work and Pensions, is led by Dame Carol Black and David Frost.
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The review, which is jointly sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, will include a panel of experts from business, trade unions and health representatives and will be conducted in the context of the Growth Agenda.
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It will also feed into the wider Employment Law Review, which is looking at measures to reduce red tape and remove the burdens on business, encourage growth and maximise flexibility for employers and employees.
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Also announced is an additional £12 million of funding for health and work programmes, including the Fit for Work Service and Occupational Health Advice lines. Both have already proved highly successful in providing support for both employers and individuals in the early stages of sickness absence.
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