---
title: "Managing Sickness Absence in SMEs (Phase 1)"
ocid: "ocds-b5fd17-b7572547-dc3e-46f7-a590-bd62d6325f5a"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-b7572547-dc3e-46f7-a590-bd62d6325f5a"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-b7572547-dc3e-46f7-a590-bd62d6325f5a.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-b7572547-dc3e-46f7-a590-bd62d6325f5a.json"
source: "Contracts Finder"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "DEPARTMENT FOR WORK AND PENSIONS"
published: "2017-06-20"
---

# Managing Sickness Absence in SMEs (Phase 1)

Buyer: DEPARTMENT FOR WORK AND PENSIONS  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-b5fd17-b7572547-dc3e-46f7-a590-bd62d6325f5a

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## Summary

The Department for Work and Pensions has initiated a procurement process titled "Managing Sickness Absence in SMEs (Phase 1)", aimed at exploring innovative interventions to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in managing long-term sickness absences. This initiative falls under the health and social work services industry category, with a contract period starting from 22nd May 2017 to 21st August 2017. The procurement was conducted through an open procedure, and the deadline for tender submissions was 16th December 2016.

This tender presents significant opportunities for businesses, particularly those offering innovative health and support solutions tailored for SMEs, which are often more vulnerable to the impacts of employee sickness. Companies specialising in workplace health interventions, counselling services, or technology-driven solutions for HR management will find themselves well-positioned to compete. As the project seeks to alleviate the costs and productivity losses associated with sickness absence, successful bidders may not only secure contracts but also establish themselves as key partners in enhancing workforce wellbeing across the UK's SME sector.

## Notice

The Authority is working with Innovate UK (an executive non-departmental body sponsored by BIS) to seek innovative proposals for interventions aimed at better supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to manage long term sickness absences and support early returns to work. 'How do we support SMEs to manage the first four weeks of sickness absence in a way that best facilitates a return to work?' The key driver for the competition is to investigate what innovations could better answer the challenge of supporting SMEs to manage the early stages of sickness absence; doing so will help improve the government's evidence base regarding effective work and health interventions. The Work and Health Unit (WHU) is the Authority's business lead for this competition. WHU is a joint initiative of the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), the Department of Health (DH) and other relevant departments and bodies. It aims to improve productivity and labour market participation. Long spells of sickness absence can be life-changing for individuals, whilst sickness absence poses significant costs to businesses and government. - 130 million days are lost due to sickness absence a year - Cost to businesses is an estimated GBP9bn in sick pay and associated costs - 4 consecutive weeks of sickness absence presents an increased risk of leaving the labour market. - 1 in 5 people who reach 6 weeks of sick pay eventually leave work. Addressing sickness absence therefore does not just offer economic benefits for businesses, individuals and the state, but improves businesses' productivity, and individuals' wellbeing. By focusing on the first four weeks of sickness absences (i.e. before the threshold for increased risk of long-term worklessness) it is expected that outcomes for employees and employers would be improved. The usual definition of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) is any business with fewer than 250 employees. Absences are felt more acutely by SMEs than by larger organisations, since the smaller the workforce, the greater the impact an absentee has; furthermore, SMEs are far less likely to have access to occupational health support (just 1 in 10 SMEs compared to 8 in 10 large employers). These issues are particularly acute for micro enterprises i.e. those with fewer than 10 employees. The Authority is seeking to encourage an innovative and creative approach from tenderers supporting SMEs to manage the first four weeks of sickness absence within their workforce, in a way that best facilitates a return to work for their employees.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Contracts Finder |
| Latest notice | https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/7afbc35c-ad4f-4427-b214-fbe7d5344729 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Open |
| Procurement method details | Open procedure |
| Tender suitability | SME, VCSE |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 20 Jun 2017 |
| Submission deadline | 16 Dec 2016 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 21 May 2017 |
| Contract period | 21 May 2017 - 21 Aug 2017 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £49,941 |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £180,929 |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Not specified |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | DEPARTMENT FOR WORK AND PENSIONS |
| Locality | LEEDS |
| Post town | Leeds |
| Postcode | LS2 7UA |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLE Yorkshire and The Humber |
| ITL 2 | TLE4 West Yorkshire |
| ITL 3 | TLE42 Leeds |
| Local authority | Leeds |
| Electoral ward | Little London & Woodhouse |
| Westminster constituency | Leeds Central and Headingley |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 4 |
| Supplier names | AVALON BEHAVIOUR VENTURES; KINGSTON UNIVERSITY ENTERPRISES; THE FIT FOR WORK TEAM; WESTFIELD HEALTH AND WELLBEING |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 85 - Health and social work services

### Codes

- 85000000 - Health and social work services

## Release History

- 20 Jun 2017 at 14:07 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/7afbc35c-ad4f-4427-b214-fbe7d5344729

## Documents

- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/7afbc35c-ad4f-4427-b214-fbe7d5344729
  20th June 2017 - Awarded contract notice on Contracts Finder
- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/1426f05c-8e3b-442c-89b7-437682a9e2de
  Managing Sickness Absence redacted Contract for Avalon Behaviour Ventures Ltd
- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/8adf162f-a290-4fd7-bbfb-51cd322139de
  Managing Sickness Absence redacted Contract for Kingston University Enterprises Ltd
- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/973f89cf-886b-49e0-ab57-af34c1a95d03
  Managing Sickness Absence Specification
- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/5e8071fd-efd6-462b-ba42-ac3b25451cee
  Managing Sickness Absence redacted Contract for the Fit for Work Team
- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/3a425db1-d74c-4b41-8653-7a004a0ec286
  Managing Sickness Absence redacted Contract for Westfield Health and Wellbeing Ltd

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-b7572547-dc3e-46f7-a590-bd62d6325f5a. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-b7572547-dc3e-46f7-a590-bd62d6325f5a.json.