Health Management
Managers at Nuon now also act as health manager for their staff. The role of the health & management department has undergone radical change at Nuon.
Starting from the situation of high absenteeism in 2002 (8.8%), Nuon succeeded in bringing absenteeism down to 3.9% (CBS-norm) in 2006. That is an outstanding achievement in the energy sector. In the past years Nuon has concentrated on curative and preventative measures. In 2006 Nuon received the “Kroontjes” baton in recognition of this excellent performance. The “Kroontjes” relay is organised by Kroon op het Werk, the employers’ organisation for health management. The baton is passed on to organisations that have distinguished themselves through a good prevention, absenteeism and (re)integration policy.In the context of absenteeism guidance, the manager now also acts as health manager. He discusses absenteeism issues with the employee and, if necessary, seeks advice from the company doctor. The costs of absenteeism are charged to the manager’s budget. Through their efforts as health manager, they have a direct influence on the costs of absenteeism. A training programme has been set up to prepare the managers for this task.
We have our own reintegration centre to ensure that knowledge about reintegration and social security matters is retained within our organisation. The number of new disability claimants was further reduced in 2006 to 15 (0.2%). More than 75% of the long-term ill returned to work in their own or alternative duties at Nuon. In 2006 Nuon appointed an in-house health officer. This enables us to make our own assessment of the employee’s residual working capacity given his or her medical restrictions. We use this knowledge to seek alternative employment within Nuon.
