Ellipse has entered the group income protection (GIP) market with the launch of its InteractPlus product which includes an integrated absence management system.
The provider, which is already active in the group life and critical illness (CI) markets, said its new plan was designed to help ensure illness and disability in the workplace were actively managed and mitigated.
It will initially be available to advisers for schemes of up to 300 lives, with a second phase coming later in the year for larger groups.
The subject of absence management has become a key one for employers and was highlighted by the Sickness Absence Review as part of the government's welfare reforms.
The product includes a built-in day one absence management service (provided by Absencecare) and specialist medical providers to assess cases and provide intervention support and rehabilitation.
A dedicated Ellipse case manager oversees referrals and maintains communications between all parties.
As part of the launch, Ellipse research also found current absence management approaches were heightening employer and employee risk, while 80% of employees were working sick.
According to the Sick Notes study, the majority of employers (70%) rely on non-HR personnel to handle sickness, with half (45%) of managers admitting that their people responsible for absence management were not the best equipped to deal with it.
Worryingly, nearly half of managers (41%) said absence procedure was not followed at all.
John Ritchie, CEO at Ellipse, said: "Unfortunately, many companies' absence management processes amount to little more than burying their heads in the sand with too much bureaucracy, too little procedure or the lack of any process at all.
"If an employer can't reliably say where their people are and how they are, then they are failing to deal with the full risks that employee absence and ill health bring to the workplace."
