Employers and government to partner on building healthier workplaces

More than 60 major and many small employers are partnering with government to tackle the growing numbers of people out of work due to ill health.

The joint effort, developed in response to Sir Charlie Mayfield’s Keep Britain Working Review, will drive action to prevent ill-health, support people to stay in work, and help employers build healthier, more resilient workplaces.

The Review estimates that one in five working age adults is out of work due to health reasons, which costs businesses £85 billion a year from sickness, turnover, and lost productivity.

In response, the government will partner with employers to reshape how health issues and disabilities are managed in the workplace.

Major brands, such as British Airways, Google and John Lewis, Mayoral Combined Authorities and SMEs are among the early adopters of proposals set out in the Keep Britain Working Review that will help refine workplace health approaches over the next three years to build the evidence base for what works.

Sir Charlie Mayfield, author of the Keep Britain Working Review, said:

“Employers are uniquely placed to make a difference, preventing health issues where possible, supporting people when they arise, and helping them return to work.”

Mayfield will lead a Vanguard Taskforce that will bring together Ministers, employers, disabled people, workers’ representatives, and health experts to to develop interventions that will go on to establish a voluntary certified standard by 2029.

John Foster, Chief Policy and Campaigns Officer at the CBI, said:

“Businesses recognise the urgent need to deliver a positive step-change in how government and firms work together to support people experiencing health-related barriers to work. Today’s report represents a significant milestone in that journey and will be welcomed across the business community.

“With the cost of employing people already a barrier to creating jobs, it’s right that the focus is on how to help firms make the most of their considerable investment in health and wellbeing through better data about what works.

“Despite being a final report, the task of tackling health-related inactivity is just beginning, and we look forward to working with government and industry over the coming years to translate the report’s principles into action.”