Absence management – return to work planning

Education Mutual – DFE-recommended staff absence protection provider – discusses return to work planning

Education Mutual is a national collaboration of schools that offers an ethical, non-profit-making alternative to the staff absence insurance market. As a member-owned alternative, Education Mutual is governed by a board of SBMs, MAT leaders and senior leadership team members who understand the day-to-day pressures schools face – particularly when it comes to staff absence management.

Education Mutual provides schools with a market-leading healthcare and wellbeing service aimed at reducing, if not preventing, long-term absence. All members have access to face-to-face physiotherapy, stress counselling, a nurse support service and 24/7 GP provision, amongst many more services aimed at directly and positively impacting absence rates in schools.

Education Mutual will be exhibiting at the upcoming 2022 EdExec events and Tracey Gray – previously Director of Support at Walbottle Academy – will be delivering a presentation on ‘return to work’ that you won’t want to miss. She is a Fellow of the CIPD, Fellow of ISBL and is a qualified ILM Coach with significant experience in the field of business leadership incorporating strategic human resource management, health and safety, finance, income generation, IT and technical infrastructure, estate management/leisure and community. Throughout her career, Tracey has ensured that students and staff are well-supported to achieve their potential within a safe environment which is sustainable and financially stable. 

Education Mutual was set up ‘for schools, by schools’ and seeks to promote ethical and affordable solutions around staff absence and well-being for its members; Tracey became a founding director in July 2018.  Education Mutual now has over 1,500 member schools, which are all working towards becoming more efficient and sector-led. 

Let Tracey give you a taster of her important session:

Whether you are new to business leadership or a seasoned professional, you are likely to have come across staff absence. Often, it falls to the business leader to have a significant role in staff absence management.  Surely this should, therefore, be a straightforward process – with clear policies set out and good support in place? In my experience, it can often be anything but!  We can find ourselves managing complex, highly emotive, situations which do not come with a ‘one-size-fits-all’ formula for reintegration back into work. However, there are ways we can develop our skills – including working with relevant professionals – to enable us to achieve a successful return to work for most staff. This session will expand on the ‘why’, ‘what’ and ‘how’ of long-term absence management and phased return to work, and will feature plenty of practical tips to help you, because staff are more likely to be successful in returning to work if they are well-supported – we’ll explore the detail of how to achieve this goal. Key aspects covered are:

• Returning to work after a long-term absence.
• Making sure the employee is ready to return to work.
• Line manager behaviours.
• Return to work interviews and phased return planning.
• Wellbeing support.

Education Mutual welcomes all education settings. Get in touch to secure a competitive quote against your current provision – we have a proven track record of being cost-effective whilst providing complete value for money. Visit our website at www.educationmutual.co.uk, email [email protected], or call us on 01623 287 840 to hear more.

This is a sponsored article, brought to you by Education Mutual.

To find out more about absence management, come and chat with Education Mutual at EdExec LIVE South in London on 9th June, or NORTH in Manchester on 6th October 2022. Book your tickets here!