§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidelines he has published regarding the treatment of employees returning to work after long-term sick leave. [26916]
§ Mr. HuttonI have been asked to reply.
1467WWe do not publish guidelines for all employers regarding the treatment of employees returning after long-term sick leave.
However, current policy is to encourage rehabilitation and/or redeployment of staff who have been long-term sick, and to initiate action to rehabilitate them back to work as early as possible. To this end, we are working with the Department for Work and Pensions and the Health and Safety Executive on job retention and rehabilitation pilots to test different health and employment strategies to help people with long-term sickness or disability to remain in their jobs.
We have commissioned guidance for health and social services on promoting employment opportunities for people with mental health problems to meet the requirement of Standard One of the National Service Framework for mental health.
As far as health and social services employees are concerned, guidance on treatment of staff returning from long-term sickness is part of "The Management of Health, Safety and Welfare Issues for NHS Staff" issued under the cover of HSC (98) 064 and also in "Managing Sickness Absence in the NHS" published through the Strategic HR Intelligence Networks in July 2000 and reissued in November 2001.