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Managing Sickness Absence

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Managing Sickness Absence in the Police Service
A Review of Current Practices
Hayday S, Broughton A, Tyers C
Research Report RR582, Health and Safety Executive, September 2007

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commissioned by the Health and Safety Executive

The Home Office and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are working together to reduce the number of working days lost to ill health and/or injury in the police forces of England and Wales. They commissioned the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) to conduct a review of absence policies and management in police forces to inform this process. This review is intended to be used by the Home Office and HSE to develop measures to improve current practice in line with the Ministerial Task Force (MTF) on Health, Safety and Productivity aims and the drive to improve public sector efficiency.

The specific aims of the review were to:

explore how sickness absence data is used to manage and monitor absence explore views of the current absence management processes among police officers, police staff, line managers, HR and occupational health professionals identify barriers experienced by staff, line managers, occupational health staff and HR staff in following and implementing current policies and procedures in everyday practice, and how these barriers are addressed within the local force.
Guidance issued by the HSE, ACAS & CIPD (2006) and research by CBI (2006), CIPD (2006), NAO (2004) show that absence management cannot be viewed as just primarily policy and procedures. Successful absence management fundamentally depends on addressing wider organisational and management factors such as the culture of the organisation, their approach to well-being at work, communication skills and the ability of line managers to competently deliver

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