It’s often said that “no news is good news”.

My experience of the employee benefits world suggests this aphorism is often very far from the truth. And in the case of the Health and Work Service (HWS), the lack of any concrete news of use to employers is becoming increasingly irritating.

Some will recall that the HWS was originally scheduled to be launched in some geographical areas as early as April this year. This initial deadline was overtaken – and the revised announcement was that HWS would be available in autumn 2014 for some, and nationally available by April 2015.

Yet despite these new deadlines moving ever closer, visible and tangible evidence as to what this service will mean for employers is still patchy. This is a problem if employers are to embrace the HWS within their company sick pay policies.

There have however been some snippets of information that have leaked out over the last few weeks which might be of interest to our followers. Firstly, the DWP have dramatically slashed the number of employees it thinks the service will support. This is not news really – just a reflection of the likely outcome of moving the HWS from a service where the entry point was a mandated referral from the employee’s GP, to that of a strictly voluntary referral service (a U-turn that we have commented on previously).

The other, perhaps more relevant, point is around employee consent. It appears that employees will have to give their consent before they are referred to the HWS by either employer or GP.

My concern here is that unless employees fully understand what the HWS is trying to achieve (a speedy return to work where possible), and crucially that it is not linked to any other medical assessments required for state benefits, many will withhold their consent based on ignorance of the offering.

Which takes us back to building the HWS into company sick-pay policies and procedures. Our recent survey findings suggested that 58% of employers expect to build the HWS into their absence management policies. To do this successfully it may be necessary for employers to educate employees as to the value of the service, and why referrals to same could be beneficial for both parties.

Another angle that may also be worth considering (once the detail of the actual consent requirements is firmly in the public domain) may be creating a consent clause within the employee’s standard contract of employment. I’m not sure how practical (or legally possible) this proposal is - it’s one for the Employment Lawyers rather than myself - but it’s got to be worth considering as a way of potentially removing a barrier to utilising the service.

So, whilst we have no real news on the HWS, we do at least have food for thought. Obviously, I will provide updates as they become known.

Best regards

Steve