New toolkit to help employees return to work following sick leave during Covid-19 pandemic

Loughborough University has created a new toolkit for businesses based in the Midlands, which offers free resources and support to manage the return to work of employees on sick leave during the Covid-19 pandemic.

As part of the Midlands Engine Mental Health and Productivity Pilot, Loughborough is leading a two-year project to provide new guidance and support to employees and their employers through the return to work process following absence from work.

The project toolkit offers step by step support to returning employees and employers in any size of business in any sector, as long as they are based in the Midlands. It can be used alongside a company’s existing return to work policy or on its own to help support an employee whilst on long-term sick leave (eight or more days).

Speaking about the project Dr Fehmidah Munir, from Loughborough’s School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, said: “This is an important time for us  all to support the return to work of employees whilst taking care of their mental health. Our toolkit can be used by any employer or employee where mental health may be a concern, even if that is not their primary reason for sick leave.”

If you are based in the Midlands and are concerned about sick leave during these unprecedented times, you can find out more about the toolkit by contacting Dr Munir at f.munir@lboro.ac.uk. The project starts in September 2020 and ends in December 2021. There is no cost to take part.

The study involves the Universities of Warwick, Nottingham, Birmingham and Affinity Health at Work.

 

Notes for editors

Press release reference number: PR 20/146

Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.

It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme, named the best university in the world for sports-related subjects in the 2020 QS World University Rankings and University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times University Guide 2019.

Loughborough is in the top 10 of every national league table, being ranked 4th in the Guardian University League Table 2020, 5th in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020 and 6th in The UK Complete University Guide 2021.

Loughborough is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’ and is in the top 10 in England for research intensity. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.

The Loughborough University London campus is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offers postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities. It is home to influential thought leaders, pioneering researchers and creative innovators who provide students with the highest quality of teaching and the very latest in modern thinking.

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