Absence Management: Insurance. Fulfil legal responsibilities

Aon, leading professional services firm, report that companies may not be accurately recording sickness absence

An increasing number of companies in the UK have group risk insurance policies, to financially protect employees and their families through situations such as death, illness or disability. However, by taking out such policies, organisations have responsibilities to record sickness absence data.

Aon, one of the largest insurance brokers in the world, have reported findings that suggest many organisations are not accurately recording these instances of staff sickness. The information required by group risk insurers includes details of who is absent, the reason for this absence, and its duration. Aon report that some employers are either failing to record absences, or provide incomplete data.

This failing can cause potential legal risks, create higher premiums and put employees at risk of loss of claim monies or invalidated acceptance of claims.

 

Charles Alberts, Head of Health Management at Aon, commented, “We are concerned that some employers are not accurately recording sickness absence. This means insurers may not be receiving the right information in order to accurately assess and price the risk to the business of that absence. As the group risk market continues to grow and with the advent of the Insurance Act 2015 (which became effective from August 2016), employers are advised to take stock and consider their responsibilities as policyholders. Not recording absence properly is an enormous risk for employers and may mean they are not meeting their legal obligations.”

 

The Insurance Act means that there is a ‘duty of fair presentation’ on employers to supply all relevant information to insurers. Without precise and accurate absence recording, this condition cannot be met.

 

 

Mr Alberts also continued, “There are steps employers can take, including implementing an absence management policy and process that is consistently followed by all employees and line managers. Best practice is to record all absences from day one, to use a system built for this purpose, to build in triggers to flag cases that are likely to be long term or would benefit from earlier intervention, plus using a clinical case management service to support the employee and provide advice to make proactive business decisions.

 

“It is advisable for employers to accurately record all absences, as well as to provide fair and consistent treatment of all cases both to improve insurance premiums and to reduce the risk of litigation. Proactively managing absence is positive for all stakeholders - the employer, the insurer, and importantly the employee.”

 

With Bodet’s Time & Attendance Solution with Absence Management, you ensure all absence periods are recorded correctly, including both planned and unexpected leave. You can also add a reason for all unexpected absences, such as sickness. Bodet's solution gives full visibility of your staff, with the ability to run absence reports and monitor the Bradford Factor. This provides the ability to identify absence patterns linked to causes such as stress, and support staff before long-term absence occurs. Customisable trigger alerts can also be created to automatically notify you of certain absence events.

 

If you would like a free on-site demonstration to see how our Time & Attendance Systems can benefit your organisation, please contact us.