Workplace absence, IOD's and disability has an astronomical effect on any business. It places excessive pressure on both the organisation and its employees with significant associated costs. Despite this very few organisations can quantify the costs and impact of absence and even fewer have effective systems and processes to identify, prevent, reduce and manage attendance in the workplace. Workability is an industry recognised innovator in absence reduction and disability management solutions.

Part of the reason the service is so successful is that it is not a 'one size fits all' model but a fully customised solution that can be adapted to the needs and budgets of any organisation.

At Workability we know that significant benefits can be achieved through the early detection and intervention of physical, medical, emotional and psychological health problems, which have an impact on the workplace.

Working in partnership with Workability you can evaluate, proactively intervene and resolve issues at the earliest instance, ensuring a healthier workforce, organisation and bottom line.

Our approach is to provide a recording system and a unique combination of streamlined proactive health solutions that help tackle absence and disability issues through a range of support services. With the principal focus on the facilitation of a safe and timely return to work, our solutions combine immediate access to our absence, disability and case management team.

Day 1 Absence and/or IOD Management Helpline

Absent employees and or new IOD cases are required to contact our National Service Centre (NSC), where our team of Absence Support Consultants and RTW Coordinators complete an injury or illness telephonic screening and log the details of the employees' absence or incident. 

The key features are:
  • Capture of all absence and or IOD data, trends and issues
  • Immediate notifications and alerts to line managers, HR and other identified stakeholders summarising event details and indicating next steps to take and the appropriate time to take them
  • An optional Immediate Medical Assessment (IMA) on agreed triggers for cases reporting a medical or emotional concern
  • Immediate advice and support given to Employee
  • Referral to existing company services such as primary care, EAP or OH
  • Option to refer into the Return to Work Referrals Service on agreed triggers for disability case management and intervention
  • Support COID process to ensure forms are completed correctly to meet compliance for salary replacement and funding requirements
  • Provision of return to work interview process of line managers including summary information on each employees absence occurrences
  • Live suite of online management information, covering absence and IOD trends, reasons, analysis and process compliance, allowing management and HR to monitor absence activity in real-time and make informed decisions that help reduce absence
  • Through analysis of the above, Proactive Account Management is provided to highlight emerging trends, identify hot spots, provide guidance and advice on actions to reduce absence and facilitate best practice workshops.
Early intervention is a key factor in managing the cost of absence. It ensures that potential long term absence and disability are prevented and allow for the most appropriate and cost effective intervention at an early stage. By recording data we can ensure appropriate cases are highlighted to HR at the earliest opportunity.

For businesses that don't know, or are unsure of their cost of absence and the reasons for absence, this service provides a consistent and accurate way of identifying the true cost of absence, in addition to absence trends for the company or down to the departmental/divisional level.

Return to Work (RTW) Referrals

IOD, medium to long term absence and chronic health conditions are difficult to manage. Often employees are lost in the medical system and the company has limited or no information on what is happening to the employee and if, when and in what capacity the employee will return to work. The RTW service is normally used by companies where:
  • We first commence working with them and have a number of existing cases who are currently on long term absence or on extended light duties that need to be resolved.
  • They have an existing absence recording system but need an effective mechanism to manage employee's who was involved in an IOD and for those employees who fail to return to work within an agreed period of time such as 7 or 14 days
Our Return to Work Referrals service is delivered telephonically for companies with a geographical spread workforce and on-site where the need arises to ensure the most effective, consistent and efficient delivery. Access to a range of quality assured assessment and treatment services are available as and when required. Our proven approach offers:
  • A detailed RTW telephone screening assessment done by a RTW Coordinator to obtain information to manage and report on the case
  • The management report outlines: 
   * The current status and steps that need to be taken to return the employee back to work in the safest and quickest possible time
   * The feedback is goal orientated, time focused and written in a commercial and customer focused manner
   * Advice on the barriers that are stopping an employee returning to work, not the diagnosis they have been labeled with
   * Recommendations on whether any medical input or treatment would result in an effective recovery and return to work and the associated         costs where applicable (non IOD and Medical Aid cases)
  • Ongoing communication between relevant medical professionals, line managers / HR and the Workability RTW Coordinator
  • Referral into and the management of a national quality assured network of medical professionals (such as specialists, work hardening centers, doctors, physiotherapists, psychologists and OT's) for investigations, treatment, rehabilitation,  FCE's and workplace ergonomic assessments
  • Ongoing case management until case resolution where authorised
Absence and Injury Prevention Programmes

At Workability we firmly believe that prevention is better than cure. The holy grail for all organisation's we work for are to achieve a safety culture where employees actively take responsibility for their own health and safety in the workplace. This is not easy to achieve but is possible with a targeted campaign to promote workplace health and safety.

As a leading provider of absence management, disability and return to work services we have dealt with thousands of cases over ten years who were involved in workplace accidents and injuries. This experience has given us unique insights into the causes of workplace accidents and injuries which allowed us to develop market leading products to reduce IOD's and absence in the workplace and improve the health and well-being of the workforce.

Our absence and injury prevention products include:
  • Assessment, review and effective implementation of health and safety systems policies and procedures
  • Ergonomic workplace assessments and modifications to ensure safe systems of work
  • Bespoke manual handling training
  • DSE or VDU (computer and workstation) assessments, modifications and training 
  • Training and workshops on issues such as back pain, exercise, nutrition, sleep, stress etc
Our absence and injury prevention programmes are effective in reducing the incidence of workplace accidents and injuries and improve productivity through a motivated, safer and healthier workforce. 

Find out more about Workability Assessments, Find out more about Workability Case Management
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