Points of Interest

In his report of March 2007 ‘A Review of Employment Dispute Resolution in Great Britain’, Michael Gibbons recommends that ACAS should play an enhanced role in dispute resolution. The Government have reduced the budget of ACAS by some £3.2 million and we hear to-day that they are reducing their staff again – up to 20% reduction in recent times at a cost of around £12 million. How can they do more with less?

In addition Gibbons recommends replacing the 2004 dispute resolution regulations by a simpler more flexible process. We wait fore the white smoke!

I have spent some time over the years working on sickness absence schemes and helping clients reduce sickness – particularly short term unpredictable sickness. I know it is a problem for many employers.

I recently spotted an article in Personnel To-day entitled “GPs fear workers will create their own sicknotes under plans for an automated certification system”.
The government is looking to trial the computer-based scheme to overcome the long-running problem of doctors' handwriting. The electronic system could also encourage GPs to make better use of the 'remarks' section of the sicknote to help employers understand a workers' illness or injury.
But a BMA spokesman said: "Electronic sicknotes are not practical. It is only a matter of time before someone finds a way to hack into a computer and make bogus sicknotes."
The kind doctor added that he would discourage doctors from spending extra time on the remarks section of sicknotes as it was not their job to help employers. By comparison the Royal College of General Practitioners said it had been encouraging doctors to use the forms to tell bosses what patients could still do at work. Comments they could include are 'fit for part-time work' or 'is likely to wait three months for a scan’.
The Department of Work and Pensions said there were plans for a trial of electronic sicknotes in South Wales. A spokesman said: "We are in the process of procuring the necessary software changes to be able to test the use of electronic sicknotes."
If this scheme is introduced who will it help – probably not employers trying to deal with high sickness levels.
Finally, I featured comments about dyslexia in a recent blog entry. For readers concerned about this issue, a new code of practice to help employers support dyslexic staff is to be launched by the British Dyslexia Association (BDA) in September.

The code will give employers advice on supporting workers with dyslexia as well as guidance on policies and procedures relating to the Disability Discrimination Act.

For more information, visit www.bdadyslexia.org.uk