Absence Archives | Occupational Health Assessment

HR experts finally seeing real value in fit notes

Overwhelming HR support for Fit Note improvement trials

Occupational Health Assessment Limited’s survey reveals overwhelming HR support for Fit Note improvement trials across England. The government funded trials to radically improve the effectiveness of Fit Notes are scheduled to commence in July across four English regions. The survey also suggests that Human Resources (HR) professionals are keen to see any identified improvements to the […]

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Nine in ten employers have had no contact with newly created employment rights enforcement agency.

Nine in ten HR professionals have had no contact with the Fair Work Agency

Absence, OH News

A survey undertaken by Occupational Health Assessment Limited suggest that more than nine in ten (92%) senior HR professionals have had no contact with the newly created Fair Work Agency (FWA), including 40% of employers that were not even aware of the FWA’s remit in the new – post Employment Rights Act 2025 – compliance

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Our press coverage: April 2026

Absence, Employee Benefits, Health news, HR, OH News, Wellbeing

A brief summary of just some of our press coverage in April 2026. Another busy month for the team, with a variety of news topics and coverage in the following publications; Practice Director appointed Occupational Health Assessment Limited are delighted to announce the appointment of our new Practice Director, Claire McCusker. McCusker has more

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HR experts finally seeing real value in Fit Notes

Absence, Health news, HR

After many years of negative headlines, research by Occupational Health Assessment Limited suggests that Human Resources (HR) experts are finally starting to see some genuine value from the Fit Note system in supporting absence management procedures. The survey of 160 employers representing more than 600,000 employees was undertaken in March and found that more than

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using sickness absence triggers occupational health

The use of fit notes

Absence, HR

Yesterday BBC News published some new research around the use of fit notes by General Practitioners (GPs) and other medical professionals. From sick notes to fit notes Fit notes were first introduced in 2010 to replace the existing sick notes system. Fit notes were designed to offer more than a binary choice between being either

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Labour Market Outlook

Absence, HR

Yesterday the CIPD published their quarterly Labour Market Outlook and this included some important new data points for HR experts and employment professionals. Hiring intentions down The most striking finding was this one; “Employer hiring intentions remain at the lowest level on record since we began collecting this measure in 2014, apart from during the

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Ill-health absence interventions left too late

Absence, Uncategorized

Survey indicates that more than 4 in every 10 employers take no action until absences exceed four weeks. A survey undertaken by Occupational Health Assessment Limited of UK employers representing more than 160,000 workers has found a major disconnect between employer absence recording policies and active ill-health interventions. Good and bad news The research suggests

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Employee absence rates continue to rise

Absence, HR, OH News, Wellbeing

CIPD report indicates absence rates continue to rise The 2010s witnessed a decline in employee absence rates. Yet the current decade has seen sharp increases, and a report this week by the CIPD has confirmed that employee absence rates continue to rise following the Covid pandemic years. The findings The CIPD Health and Wellbeing at

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Two reports on the health of the workforce

Absence, Employee Benefits, Health news, HR

Last week the CIPD published the 2025 Good Work Index. The theme of this year’s report is the health of the UK workforce, a subject also under scrutiny in the government’s Keep Britain Working review published in March. What new data and insights are provided for employers in these two reports on the health of

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Workplace control of infectious diseases

Absence, COVID-19, Employee Benefits, Health news, HR

It was five years ago this week that “non-essential” UK shops reopened after the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. In this article we will look again at the Covid risk and how employers can improve workplace control of infectious diseases. Much has happened in the half-decade since the start of the pandemic, and Covid

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Absence

Overwhelming HR support for Fit Note improvement trials

Nine in ten HR professionals have had no contact with the Fair Work Agency

Our press coverage: April 2026

HR experts finally seeing real value in Fit Notes

The use of fit notes

Labour Market Outlook

Ill-health absence interventions left too late

Employee absence rates continue to rise

Two reports on the health of the workforce

Workplace control of infectious diseases

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