The document discusses key information about the Fit for Work program, which provides occupational health assessments and return to work plans for employees on sick leave. It covers topics such as how employers can make referrals for their employees, what the assessment process involves, how return to work plans are developed, and common questions around sharing information and intervention recommendations. The goal of the program is to help reduce the number of people unnecessarily leaving employment due to illness and act as a bridge between employers and absent employees.

1. Key questions from employers

2. Rationale behind Fit for Work

3. Rationale behind Fit for Work
Do I need to prepare for making Fit for Work referrals?

4. Rationale behind Fit for Work
Do I need to prepare for making Fit for Work referrals?
What support do
you have in place?

5. Rationale behind Fit for Work
Do I need to prepare for making Fit for Work referrals?
What support do
you have in place?
Build a Fit for Work
referral into your
sickness absence
policies.

6. Rationale behind Fit for Work
Why is there a need for Fit for Work?
Do I need to prepare for making Fit for Work referrals?

7. Rationale behind Fit for Work
Why is there a need for Fit for Work?
Are able to access occupational health services

8. Rationale behind Fit for Work
Why is there a need for Fit for Work?
Are able to access occupational health services

9. Rationale behind Fit for Work
Why is there a need for Fit for Work?
Are able to access occupational health services

10. Rationale behind Fit for Work
Why is there a need for Fit for Work?
Are able to access occupational health services
Reduce the number of people moving needlessly
away from work because of ill health.

11. Rationale behind Fit for Work
Why is there a need for Fit for Work?
Are able to access occupational health services
Reduce the number of people moving needlessly
away from work because of ill health.

12. Rationale behind Fit for Work
Why is there a need for Fit for Work?
Are able to access occupational health services
Reduce the number of people moving needlessly
away from work because of ill health.

13. Rationale behind Fit for Work
Why is there a need for Fit for Work?
Fit for Work helps to act as a bridge between you and absent employees.

14. Rationale behind Fit for Work
I’m an SME – will Fit for Work help me?
Do I need to prepare for making Fit for Work referrals?
Why is there a need for Fit for Work?

15. Rationale behind Fit for Work
I’m an SME – will Fit for Work help me?

16. Rationale behind Fit for Work
I’m an SME – will Fit for Work help me?

17. Rationale behind Fit for Work
I’m an SME – will Fit for Work help me?

18. Rationale behind Fit for Work
I’m an SME – will Fit for Work help me?

19. Rationale behind Fit for Work
I’m an SME – will Fit for Work help me?

20. Rationale behind Fit for Work
I’m an SME – will Fit for Work help me?
Do I need to prepare for making Fit for Work referrals?
Why is there a need for Fit for Work?
Why are referrals based on telephone assessments and not face-to-face interviews?

21. Rationale behind Fit for Work
Why are referrals based on telephone assessments and not face-to-face interviews?

22. What Fit for Work is …
and isn’t

23. Fit for Work is…

24. Fit for Work is…
A free scheme comprising two elements:

25. Advice
Fit for Work is…
A free scheme comprising two elements:
(Online or through a Freephone
telephone advice line).

26. Advice
Fit for Work is…
A free scheme comprising two elements:
Referral
(Online or through a Freephone
telephone advice line).
for an occupational health assessment

27. Fit for Work is…
A complement to existing occupational health provision.

28. Fit for Work is…
A complement to existing occupational health provision.
Works alongside existing
occupational health provision.

29. Fit for Work is…
A complement to existing occupational heath provision.
Works alongside existing
occupational health provision.
Biopsychosocial approach – not focused
solely on clinical factors.

30. Fit for Work isn’t…
NOT linked to
benefit
entitlement or the
Work Capability
Assessment.

31. Fit for Work isn’t…
NOT linked to
benefit
entitlement or the
Work Capability
Assessment.
NOT about forcing
people back to
work.

32. Making referrals to
Fit for Work

33. Making referrals to Fit for Work
How do I make a referral?

34. Making referrals to Fit for Work
How do I make a referral?
 Visit fitforwork.org/employer and select ‘refer an employee’
 Enter your company details (these will be saved) and
information about the employee you wish to refer
 Check the information you’ve entered
 Click ‘submit’
Want to see a test referral in action? Go to fitforwork.org/webinars
and view the webinar entitled ‘Fit for Work – the employer referral
process explained’

35. Making referrals to Fit for Work
Is any training being offered to employers?

36. Making referrals to Fit for Work
Is any training being offered to employers?
 View our webinars (fitforwork.org/webinars)
 Visit the employer page of the website
(fitforwork.org/employer)
 Call our Freephone telephone advice line on 0800 032 6235

37. Making referrals to Fit for Work
When might a referral to Fit for Work not be appropriate?

38. Making referrals to Fit for Work
When might a referral to Fit for Work not be appropriate?
 Not for individuals with no realistic prospect of returning to
work
 Not for terminally ill patients (unless otherwise advised by GP)
 Not for hospital in-patients
 Not for patients in an acute phase of their medical condition

39. Making referrals to Fit for Work
How long does my employee need to be off sick before
I can make a referral?

40. Making referrals to Fit for Work
How long does my employee need to be off sick before
I can make a referral?
 Four weeks (although a GP may refer before four weeks)

41. Making referrals to Fit for Work
Why do I have to wait four weeks before referring an employee?

42. Making referrals to Fit for Work
Why do I have to wait four weeks before referring an employee?
 Absence of four weeks or more present a significant risk of a
more sustained absence, or a person not returning to work at
all

43. Making referrals to Fit for Work
What if my employee doesn’t want to be referred to Fit for Work?

44. Making referrals to Fit for Work
What if my employee doesn’t want to be referred to Fit for Work?
 Referral is entirely consent-based

45. Making referrals to Fit for Work
My employee is concerned about who will have access to the
information they provide. What should I tell them?

46. Making referrals to Fit for Work
My employee is concerned about who will have access to the
information they provide. What should I tell them?
 Only case managers working on the Return to Work Plan will
have access to the information given
 Information will be treated as private and confidential and will
meet the Caldicott requirements

47. The outcomes
of a Fit for Work
assessment

48. The outcomes of a Fit for Work assessment
What will my employee receive?

49. The outcomes of a Fit for Work assessment
A Return to Work Plan tailored to the employee’s
needs:
 Advice and recommendations for interventions
 Signposting to other help
 A timetable for progressing interventions and for
returning to work (if applicable)
What will my employee receive?

50. The outcomes of a Fit for Work assessment
What if I disagree with the advice given in
an employee’s Return to Work Plan?

51. The outcomes of a Fit for Work assessment
What if I disagree with the advice given in
an employee’s Return to Work Plan?
 The Return to Work Plan remains the property of
the employee
 Employers can liaise with the Fit for Work case
manager in case of queries

52. The outcomes of a Fit for Work assessment
What happens if my employee doesn’t
consent to sharing the outcome of an
assessment?

53. The outcomes of a Fit for Work assessment
What happens if my employee doesn’t
consent to sharing the outcome of an
assessment?
 A Return to Work Plan will not be shared with
anyone without the employee’s consent
 Consent must be given at various stages of the
process

54. The outcomes of a Fit for Work assessment
How long will my employee remain on the
Return to Work Plan?

55. The outcomes of a Fit for Work assessment
How long will my employee remain on the
Return to Work Plan?

56. The outcomes of a Fit for Work assessment
Not all problems can be tackled through changes to the work
environment. What if interventions are necessary?

57. The outcomes of a Fit for Work assessment
Not all problems can be tackled through changes to the work
environment. What if interventions are necessary?

58. The outcomes of a Fit for Work assessment
Who would pay for medical interventions?

59. The outcomes of a Fit for Work assessment
Who would pay for medical interventions?
Tax exemption of

60. What now?
If you want to find out more about Fit for Work:
Visit: fitforwork.org/employer
Call the Freephone advice line on 0800 032 6235
To make a referral, visit fitforwork.org/employer
and click on “refer a patient”

61. Thank you
for listening