Thank you for your request for information about the following:

‘Under the Freedom of Information Act, I would like to request the following information in relation to the functionality of ESR:

1. If an employee has declared a disability on ESR, is this information visible to any user with access to the employee’s ESR file (i.e. management, payroll, etc.)?

2. Are NHS Employers that use ESR required or encouraged to record the disability relatedness of an episode of sickness?

3. Are NHS Employers that use ESR required or encouraged to record the work relatedness of an episode of sickness (i.e., an industrial injury)?

4. When aggregating periods of absence due to illness, are absences that have been recorded as either an “industrial injury” or a “work related injury” automatically disregarded when entitlement to occupational sick pay is calculated in ESR?

5. If an employee had a period of absence recorded as either an “industrial injury” or a “work related injury” on ESR, would details of the related period of absence be included in a ESR OSP Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) requested by another employer?

6. If details of an absence recorded in ESR as an “industrial injury” or a “work related injury” are transferred to another employer in an OSP IAT, what information would be included in that report?

7. Is there a requirement for an employee to have been awarded Injury Allowance in order to record a period of absence as either an “industrial injury” or “work related injury”?

8. Are payments of Injury Allowance recorded on ESR, and if so, a description of where this information is recorded for an individual assignment?

9. Can you please provide any guidance or ESR User Notice that refers to absence recording in the context of disability or work related periods of absence?

10. Can you please provide a copy of the ESR User Manual?

I am requesting this information to understand how ESR supports the application of s.14.7 of the NHS Employee Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook and how ESR can facilitate the identification and support of employees who are off sick due to disability related illness or with an injury that is wholly or mainly attributable to their NHS employment. I am also seeking to understand the level of detailed information that is shared between employers during an Inter Authority Transfer process.’

Your request was received on 28 February 2023 and I am dealing with it under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Response

Question 1

This information would only be accessible by a Human Resources professional to assist with any adjustments required for an employee.

Question 2

The facility is available for employers to use, there is no encouragement provided.

Question 3

The facility is available for employers to use, there is no encouragement provided.

Question 4

Yes

Question 5

Yes

Question 6

Dates, number of days and the indicator to advise that it is a work-related injury

Question 7

No

Question 8

Yes, this information is held in the entry details for the assignment

Question 9

We don’t provide guidance on when to do so but the user manual provides details of how to do so.

Question 10

We are unable to provide a copy of the ESR User Manual as this is a set of web pages, however this can be accessed at https://my.esr.nhs.uk/esrusermanual/

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