Managing Sickness Absence Toolkit

The awards, organised by Occupational Health magazine, were presented by occupational health “tzar” Dame Carol Black, the National Director for Work and Health, at a special lunch in December. EEF first won in its category to receive the “Award for Absence Management” before going on to receive the accolade of Overall Winner. Praising the EEF toolkit, the judges said it was great to see “such an unusual blend of expertise” in the team responsible. “The group put together a pragmatic and useful guide for employers that needs no further work from the customer and is useable by any size of organisation,” the judges’ citation stated. EEF director general Martin Temple said: “We are delighted to win these two prestigious awards. Sickness absence costs the UK economy over £12 billion a year and can have a huge impact on business performance. Occupational Health magazine should be congratulated for raising the profile of such an important business challenge. “EEF is unique in offering services based on the profound knowledge of our expert teams across a broad range of disciplines. We are dedicated to providing manufactures with practical solutions. That is why we are particularly pleased the judges recognised how user-friendly the Managing Sickness Absence Toolkit is for companies of all sizes and across all sectors.” The toolkit, produced by EEF in association with AXA, is an innovative, multidisciplinary resource showing companies how they can change their work culture by managing sickness absence in a systematic and professional way. It embraces employment law, human relations, occupational health and general medical practice, providing checklists, model policies and route maps for creating a high attendance ethos among employees. The toolkit is available for purchase at a price of £65.00 for EEF members seeking additional copies and £95.00 for non-members.