27 October 2004 - Minister launches framework to help people stay in work
Minister for Work Jane Kennedy today launched a new framework to help people who become ill to stay in their jobs and prevent them leaving the workforce prematurely.
“We are embarking on a new approach to helping people who have developed a health condition, impairment or injury to maintain their employment rather than facing enforced withdrawal from the workplace,” she said.
Building capacity for work: A UK Framework for Vocational Rehabilitation was launched by Ms Kennedy at the National Employment and Health Innovations Network meeting in Manchester.
“Absence management is a critically important issue for many businesses – the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) estimated the overall cost of sickness absence to the economy was £11 billion in 2002. And in the context of Employers’ Liability Compulsory Insurance, more could be done to minimise the effects of illness caused or made worse by work activities.
“The Framework will initially focus on how to help people in work to maintain their jobs. In the longer term, as we work to develop the new approach to Vocational Rehabilitation, we will look at addressing the separate, but related barriers to work individuals who are not in the workforce face.”
Ms Kennedy added: “The Government wants to enable more people with a health condition, impairment or injury to access, remain in or return to work for the benefit of all concerned, not least individuals themselves, and their employers.
“We can do this by offering appropriate help to access and return to work. We feel strongly that vocational rehabilitation has the potential to contribute to helping us and others deliver these goals.”
The Framework demonstrates the Government’s commitment to provide direction and leadership in Vocational Rehabilitation by:
- taking appropriate action to ensure Government initiatives related to Vocational Rehabilitation complement each other and contain consistent messages;
- setting up a Framework for Vocational Rehabilitation Steering Group to enable stakeholders to contribute to the development of the new approach to Vocational Rehabilitation;
- establishing a Research Working Group and a Standards and Accreditation Working Group to take forward these important issues;
- developing new guidance and additional tools in recognition that many stakeholders are already committed to Vocational Rehabilitation and are looking for help, for example the Health and Safety Executive’s new guidance Managing sickness absence and return to work, which is published today;
- considering the issues that stakeholders have suggested need to be addressed as we work towards developing a new approach to Vocational Rehabilitation; and
- highlighting that the public sector – particularly government departments and devolved administrations – has a significant contribution to make by setting appropriate examples in this area.
The publication of the Framework follows a commitment given in the final part of the review of Employers’ Liability Compulsory Insurance (ELCI) and a Discussion Paper published on Vocational Rehabilitation.
Notes for editors
- Building capacity for work – a UK Framework for Vocational Rehabilitation is published today on the DWP website at: www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/vrframework/
- The Department published its second stage and final report of the review of ELCI on 4 December 2003. In the report the Department undertook to produce and publish a Framework for Vocational Rehabilitation and published a Discussion Paper as a prelude to this, distributing it to more than 8,000 stakeholders with an interest in VR.
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