The council has employed the services of FirstCare to provide the day one absence management initiative led by nurses, which will cover some 3,000 members of staff, including those in the departments of children’s services, chief executive and adult social care.
It hopes in the future to introduce a return-to-work notification and interview initiative, while currently employers can access any information relating to absences in real time.
Leatham Green, assistant director of personnel and training at the council, said: "The cost savings of such a service were clear from our first meeting and made a strong case when it came to securing funding," Employee Benefits reports.
Meanwhile, a recent report from The Work Foundation has recommended that better preventative measures against back pain in the workplace could help with productivity and absence management, along with reducing the amount of people needing to take time off due to sickness.
