Friends Provident has launched a new absence tracking system aimed at helping employers monitor absence trends and calculate how much employee absence is costing them.
With recent figures showing the spiraling cost of absence to the UK economy, this new system enables employers to monitor absence rates through reporting tools which evaluate absence by department, reason and days of the week. The tools also include a cost of absence calculator.
The CBI/Pfizer Absence and Workplace Health survey estimated a total of 180 million sick days were taken in 2009 which cost the UK economy £16.8bn.
Declan White, group risk marketing manager comments:
“It’s no secret that long term absenteeism is both a growing concern and cost to today’s employers. This new tracker tool will be of tremendous value in helping employers understand top causes of absence within their business and the costs associated with them. The flexible nature of the tool allows companies to share information with managers and employees to ensure a better all round understanding of absenteeism. This will ultimately help foster a greater appreciation of how absenteeism impacts the commercial edge of the business.”
The flexible nature of the system means it can work alongside employer’s existing absence management arrangements and can be customised to suit their individual needs. The new support system, free to all new and existing group income protection policyholders, is the latest enhancement to the employer assistance programme which Friends Provident launched in June.
The services are provided by Workplace Options, a leading provider of employee assistance programmes and integrated work-life services both in the UK and across the globe.
Source : Friends Provident News Release
