New hire health screening
Absencehub’s creators, Honeydew Health, also work on another software product in their spare time. Whilst Absencehub and Engage are all about planned and unplanned absence, our Case Management portal, Resolve, steps in when Occupational Health interventions are needed. We recently launched a new and improved tool for completing new hire health screening.
What is new hire health screening?
The phrase new hire health screening might sound like a bit of a mouthful. If you haven’t come across this concept before, it might not be directly obvious what it means. This refers to a process of asking new employees to complete a health questionnaire as part of their onboarding process. The health questionnaire asks about previous medical history and any ongoing health issues that might affect the employee’s ability to do their job. The answers are reviewed confidentially by an Occupational Health clinician, who provides a fitness statement to the employer confirming the new hire’s fitness to work in their new role.
Pre-employment vs Pre-placement questionnaires
According to the Equality Act 2010, employers are no longer allowed to ask job applicants to complete what used to be called a Pre-employment questionnaire. This is to ensure that any health concerns or disabilities do not work against the candidate during the hiring process. However, employers can still ask the candidate to complete a health questionnaire as a part of best practice health & safety risk assessment after an offer of employment as been made. This way the new hire gets a chance to disclose confidentially any medical details that should be taken into consideration at work by completing a Pre-placement questionnaire.
What’s covered in a fitness to work report?
As a result of the screening, the employer receives a fitness to work report. This report does not include the medical details disclosed by the new employee as those are held in confidence. It is up to the employee to decide if they wish to share any details about their health or disabilities with their employer. However, the fitness to work report will advise on what additional risk assessments are recommended and what annual health surveillance needs to be carried out in line with UK health and safety legislation.
Online health screening is quick, easy and affordable
Honeydew’s Resolve offers easy access to best practice new hire health screening. The employer can register for an account for free and refer new employees on an ad hoc basis. There’s no need for a contract because Resolve is available as a pay-as-you-go service. The employer simply completes a referral for a new hire health screening and a unique link is sent to the employee by email. If the employee does not have an email address, the link can be sent to the hiring manager to arrange a time when the employee can fill in the questionnaire in private at work. Resolve employee questionnaire is smart, it only asks questions relevant to the employee and to their role. It is also mobile friendly so that employees who don’t have access to a personal computer can complete it on their smartphones instead. The price per screen starts at just £18.
Check out more detail about Honeydew’s new hire health screening or sign up for a free account on Resolve now.