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Case Study: Tate & Lyle

Tate & Lyle has long understood the benefits of helping employees return to work as soon as is practical after an illness or accident. The early return to work in a well managed workplace through vocational rehabilitation can benefit both the employee and employer.

Tate & Lyle, in conjunction with its occupational health provider Neylon Occuptional Health, has been training management to be ready for the Government's new 'Fit Note', which was introduced on 6th April 2010.

The 'Fit Note', which is to replace the 'Sick Note', will be issued by GPs and allow doctors to say if patients are 'not fit for work' or are 'maybe fit for work'. The 'Fit Note' supports the approach that Tate & Lyle has taken for the last ten years and has found so effective in helping employees return to work.

The training instituted by Tate & Lyle will equip managers to identify and manage both short and long term absences; to work effectively with Occupational Health (OH) and HR while managing those absences; give them confidence in the company's procedures in tackling absence issues and, importantly, to recognise and manage stress in the workplace. Tate & Lyle introduced vocational rehabilitation in 2000 and it has proved extremely beneficial, showing:

• Sickness absence, particularly long term, reduced by 64% since 2000
• The number of employees leaving under Ill Health Early Retirement reduced by 75% comparing the years 2001 to 2007
• A reduction in work place injuries
• Physiotherapy reduced by 50% since 2002
• Sickness absence currently runs at less than half the sector average

Tate & Lyle takes a proactive 'round table' approach to vocational rehabilitation, involving the employee, manager, GP or consultant (if necessary) and the HR department to map out a care pathway with the OH team so employees can return to health, work and efficiency at the earliest time. A number of methods are reviewed to achieve this including reducing hours, amending shifts, reducing or offering alternative suitable duties and looking at transport needs.

The business case for early return to work is overwhelming. Sick leave currently costs the economy about £17.3bn a year, including the loss of about 185 million days (CIPD 2009). Research shows long periods out of work can lead to worse health, whereas working is physically and mentally beneficial.

What Tate & Lyle has learnt is that the keys to success are a robust sickness and absence policy allied to a strong commitment from employees and managers that vocational rehabilitation must be integral to every sickness and absence policy and that employee education about sickness and rehabilitation is vital.

Tate & Lyle has also won a number of awards, notably Gold in the FDF Community Partnership Awards 2008 in the Workplace Community Category, and the company was winner of the Vocational Rehabilitation Award 2007 from Occupational Health magazine.

Tate & Lyle's Health and Wellbeing Initiatives won a gold Workplace Community award at the 2008 Community Partnership Awards and silver awards in 2007 and 2006

More Information

FDF has published a booklet called Workplace Wellbeing: The Food Industry in Action (pdf, 984kb) which features many workplace wellbeing schemes.

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