Occupational medicine and the Covid-19 pandemic – making it easier for employers
After the Covid-19 outbreak status and epidemic threat status are lifted, employers will be required to send employees for periodic check-ups if they have exercised their right to suspend occupational health referrals in the pandemic. Employees will be required to complete periodic check-ups no later than 180 days after the outbreak status and epidemic threat status is lifted.
It is the responsibility of every employer to issue referrals for periodic staff health checks. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this responsibility has been suspended until the outbreak status is revoked. As of March 2020, employers therefore do not have to issue occupational health service referrals. This situation will revert to normal once the outbreak status and the epidemic threat status are officially lifted. Then each person who has skipped periodic check-ups will be given about six months to do so.
- It is also important to remember that while periodic check-ups are not momentarily compulsory, employers still have to refer their employees for check-ups if they are off on sick leave for a longer period. Check-ups are also obligatory on hiring a new employee, as well as in other special situations regulated by the Labor Code -stresses Teresa Domańska, Director of the Health Insurance Office at TU Zdrowie.
Employer’s requirements
According to the Labor Code, every employee is required to attend an initial, follow-up and periodic medical check-up ordered by an occupational physician. The employer issues a referral for such check-ups and covers their costs. Importantly, the check-ups should take place within working hours, and the employee is then excused from their duties. If the employee refuses to have the check-ups, they are in breach of their basic duties as set out in the Labor Code and this may result in termination of their contract without notice.
- An employee does not have to remember and know when they should visit the occupational physician. All dates and obligations in this regard are kept by the employer and the employer is responsible for any failure to issue a referral to the employee. In order to make it easier for employers to manage access to occupational medicine services, TU Health has launched the Occupational Medicine Panel available in the Policyholder Panel - adds Teresa Domańska.
Occupational Medicine Panel – Options
The Occupational Medicine Panel introduced in the TU Health Policyholder Panel supports management of referrals to occupational medicine physicians and grants full control over the validity of employee medical certificates. With this tool, HR departments of companies insuring their employees manage occupational medicine tasks – they can monitor the validity of medical certificates, generate and electronically sign medical referrals.
- The system allows you to issue referrals for preventive screenings, sanitary and epidemiological check-ups, for professional drivers, diversely abled people and employee vaccinations in a single process. The application intuitively walks you through the process of issuing a referral and forwarding it for processing. Referrals for applicants and employees are issued via electronic forms; they directly inform the Customer Service Department about the receipt of a ticket. From then on, a consultant of TU Health contacts the employee and schedules their testing in accordance with the preferences indicated on the referral. As a result, the employer saves time traditionally spent on scanning and sending the referral - says Teresa Domańska.
The employer is always updated on the progress of the referral by tracking the referral status. After completing work on the referral, the employer is notified of the date, facility and time, so they can plan, for example, work schedules and time off for medical check-ups, mindful that periodic and follow-up medical check-ups are done preferably during working hours, where possible. After the occupational medical check-ups are completed and the assessment date is entered, the system will remind the employer that a new referral must be issued at 30 days before the expiry date.
- We allow you to issue a referral with a qualified electronic signature, so you no longer need to print the document, sign it and hand it to the employee before the scheduled appointment. All you have to do is send it through the system and the Customer Service will forward the referral to the facility hosting the testing appointment. This eliminates the paper workflow, which translates into major savings in time and money for companies, and convenience for employees. This is relevant both in large enterprises and in SMEs - adds Teresa Domańska.
The Occupational Medicine Panel adapts to the organizational structure of each company, a feature that is of special relevance for dispersed locations and for restricting access to employee data only from the company’s own office. Notably, the application offers a high degree of autonomy in using it by the employer with no need to interact with the service account manager every time. The employer may easily import a position dictionary or cancel an referral previously sent for processing.
Medical check-up referrals issued via the Occupational Medicine Panel are compliant with the latest medical referral template.
The application brings in an added value and is completely free of charge for Clients – Policyholders who have occupational medicine coverage. The choice to use the Occupational Medicine Panel is up to the employer.
