Health and work update for clients

Primary recipients of this and each of our regular monthly updates are asked to ensure these are disseminated to colleagues in HR, those in line management positions, and to senior management.

  1. Mpox

There has been media attention over this last month on Mpox (formerly known as Monkeypox) including the declaration by the World Health Organisation (WHO) of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern[1].  However, the threat is different to that of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The most recent UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) update on Mpox[2] (as at 19 Aug 2024) reports that in March 2023, infections linked to sexual contact and international travel were reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for the first time.  There has been transmission in neighbouring countries.  Further information may be found via the WHO website[3].

There are two distinct clades of the virus: clade I (with subclades Ia and Ib) and clade II (with subclades IIa and IIb). Clade 1b is the form spreading from DRC into neighbouring countries along trucking routes with drivers having sex with sex workers, and with infected people also passing it on to children through close contact. This is different to the Clade II global outbreak in 2022, which is still ongoing and predominantly affecting men who have sex with men.  Spread is through:

  • direct contact with skin lesions or scabs (including during sexual contact, kissing, cuddling or other skin-to-skin contact)
  • coughing or sneezing of someone who has Mpox when they’re close to you
  • contact with clothing or linens (such as bedding or towels) used by someone with Mpox

  1. Ill health retirement

In previous updates we have drawn attention to the process of ill-health retirement (IHR), by which we mean early payment of pension benefits. Arrangements and detail differ between schemes, but the key principle underlying each of them is that to receive early payment of pensions benefits the employee will need to have been considered permanently unfit for their substantive role.

Dr Nicola Cordell FFOM, is our clinical lead for ill-health retirement and will be presenting a webinar on the criteria for IHR under the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)[4] and also the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS). Clients who have employees under LGPS or TPS may find this webinar helpful.

  1. Making reasonable adjustments

In the context of training delivered though our sister company (EOPH), we have done a good deal of work over recent years with Mark Landon, who is an employment lawyer and also sits as a legal representative on the Faculty of Occupational Medicine ethics committee.

Mark will be presenting a webinar covering the disability provisions of the Equality Act 2010[5], and what is meant by “reasonable” in the context of employers making reasonable adjustments[6] for employees with disabilities.

The Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) also provides guidance of what may be considered reasonable, and what may not be reasonable as an adjustment[7].

 

Dr Robin Cordell

MBA FRCP FFOM

2 September 2024

We should draw attention to the links on our home page to this current monthly health and work update for our clients, and also to our previous updates at: https://cordellhealth.co.uk/.

[1] BBC News (22 Aug 2024).  How worried should we be about mpox? at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4glqzerw3no

[2] UKHSA guidance on Mpox (as at 19 Aug 2024) at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/monkeypox

[3] WHO guidance on Mpox (as at 26 Aug 2024) at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mpox

[4] Arrangements for IHR under the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) at: https://www.lgpsmember.org/your-pension/planning/ill-health-retirement/

[5] Disability provisions of the Equality Act 2010 at: https://www.gov.uk/definition-of-disability-under-equality-act-2010

[6] Government guidance on reasonable adjustments for workers with disabilities at: https://www.gov.uk/reasonable-adjustments-for-disabled-workers

[7] EHRC. What is meant by reasonable at: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/guidance/business/employing-people-workplace-adjustments/what-do-we-mean-reasonable