HR Industry News

Government aims to end sick-note Britain

— 20 November 2007 —

The government has announced a new medical test that will score a person’s capability to work.

The new test is more robust, accurate and fairer, according to Work and Pensions Secretary Peter Hain. His aim is to end “sick-note Britain” and give those who fail the test the support and skills they need to get a job.

The test is called the “Work Capability Assessment”, and will be introduced in October 2008 alongside the new Employment and Support Allowance. It will replace the current Personal Capability Allowance which is weighted more towards a person’s physical disability, based around assessing people’s incapability to work.

The test will assess what an individual can do, rather than can’t do. For example, points will no longer be scored because a person is unable to walk more than 400 metres. Instead, the new test will look at things like a person’s ability to use a computer keyboard or a mouse, which is more likely to be needed in the workplace.

There are currently 2.64 million working age people claiming incapacity benefits, costing the country nearly twelve and a half billion pounds in 2006/07.

It is great to see disability being based on what people can do rather than what they cannot and looking closely at functional capability rather than incapability. However the challenge is where people who have been absent long-term will fit into the workforce; who will employ them? Getting people ready for work is only half the challenge. Getting them jobs is another.

Paul Avis, Ceridian LifeWorks

Work and Pensions Secretary Peter Hain said: “We know that many people want to work – work is good for you and your long-term well-being and we don’t think it’s right that in the past people were effectively written off. We want to work with people to get them back into jobs and help them stay there.

“Currently, there are many people sitting at home in the belief that they are unemployable, with no life choices or long-term prospects because they do not think their illness or medical conditions can be catered for in the workplace.  But this is just not the case – many people with such conditions are perfectly able to take up successful careers, if the right support is in place.”

Ceridian's Paul Avis added, “In theory, employers should be proactively getting in earlier to reduce the number of people moving onto Incapacity Benefits otherwise we will end up with a revolving door syndrome. With costs at £27 billion and 2.3 million people already claiming, the Government has a mountain to climb. However for every one person they get back to work more people will be coming onto the benefit. Hence employers need to be given incentives on retention and early intervention with the net result being that this will provide fewer cases being placed on Incapacity Benefit. More stick and less carrot has been the traditional approach and now something needs to be given back to employers.”

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