Better training of department bosses and line managers is key to helping people with mental and physical health problems back to work, a noted expert has told public service leaders in Canberra.
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Health and well being expert Dame Carol Black - champion of the "fit note" concept to replace the traditional doctor's note for sick workers - has brought her message of good health in good workplaces to departments and agencies in Canberra this week, calling for the private and public sectors to learn more about effective mental health responses.
An adviser on workplace health to former British prime ministers Tony Blair and David Cameron, Dame Carol is a guest of public service insurer Comcare and will address officials from the departments of Human Services, Prime Minister and Cabinet, Defence, the Tax Office and Employment.
She praised Australia's progress on adopting holistic approaches to workplace health, but called on the government to encourage organisations to seek better training on returning employees after periods of sick leave.
"The longer the period out of the workplace, the more likely you are to find it difficult to return to work," she said.
"I think employers are also worried about taking people back with mental health problems.
"What people forget is that stress and anxiety in the workplace is often a reflection of the quality of the leadership. What we see a lot at home is in those workplaces where good management is absent, where particularly the line manager is not well trained in people management, that can often lead to poor relationships between people."
A former British national director for health and work, Dame Carol's advice has helped lead Comcare's efforts to improve work participation. The certificate of capacity concept, also known as fit notes, is being trialled with GPs in Canberra and a national rollout is planned.
She said a trial in England's West Midlands, around the city of Birmingham, built collaboration between the Treasury, the National Health Service and local councils to help small businesses implement prescribed health and well being programs in exchange for lower business tax rates.
"That business rate would be reduced for two years and then at the end there is an evaluation to see if this very structured intervention has reduced sickness absence, staff turnover and staff engagement," she said.
"In that two years, it will have given that company the time to sort its own house out so that it can carry on financially supporting the program. It's an interesting collaboration because it goes from central government, to local government and the reason the NHS is interested is because they get so much of the problem."
Dame Carol said medical training and regulators needed a cultural shift to improve return to work practices.
For Comcare, the next stage is a new partnership on work participation, involving public, private and not-for-profit organisations working across the compensation, superannuation, life insurance and disability support sectors.
