Employers across the UK are joining forces with the Government to address rising levels of work-limiting ill-health, as the second phase of the Keep Britain Working initiative moves forward.
The collaboration follows the publication of Sir Charlie Mayfield’s Keep Britain Working Review, which sets out the scale of the challenge facing the labour market and the economic cost of long-term sickness.
The Review reports that one in five working-age adults are now out of the labour force, with 800,000 additional people absent since 2019 due to health conditions. Ill-health preventing work is estimated to cost the equivalent of 7 percent of GDP, while employers face an annual hit of £85 billion from sickness absence, staff turnover and lost productivity. Disabled people remain disproportionately affected, with UK employment rates at 53%, below leading OECD comparators.
In response, more than 60 large employers, SMEs and mayoral combined authorities are launching employer-led Vanguards that will test and refine new approaches to employee health over the next three years. Participants include British Airways, Google, Sainsbury’s, Holland and Barrett, and Currys. Their work will help shape a new framework for managing health, disability and return-to-work processes, with the aim of developing a voluntary national standard by 2029.
Sir Charlie Mayfield said: “Britain is sliding into an avoidable crisis. Ill-health has become one of the biggest brakes on growth and opportunity. But this is not inevitable. Employers are uniquely placed to make a difference. If we keep Britain working, everyone wins – people, employers, and the state.”
The initiative aligns with the government’s wider plan to boost workforce participation and reduce economic inactivity. This includes a long-term investment of £1 billion a year in disability employment support by the end of the decade, alongside reforms designed to modernise jobcentres, expand localised services and ensure young people are either earning or learning.
Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden added: “Keeping people healthy and in work is the right thing to do and is essential for economic growth. Business is our partner in building a productive workforce.”
Participating employers express strong support for the programme. Alex Baldock, CEO of Currys, says: “We believe that economic inactivity caused by ill-health and disability is best tackled through partnership between employers, employees, and health services.”
The government states that embedding workplace health as a cross-government priority will boost productivity, support higher-quality jobs, reduce pressure on the NHS and lower welfare expenditure.
Pic: Sir Charlie Mayfield
