UK launches plan to boost workforce health and productivity
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Sir Charlie Mayfield, co-chair of Keep Britain Working, announced a new plan to improve workplace health support across Britain.
The initiative aims to address the rising number of working-age people leaving their jobs due to illness, currently around 800,000, costing the economy approximately £212 billion annually. The plan seeks to prevent health conditions from worsening and to help people return to work after absences by bringing together employers, the National Health Service, local authorities, and other support services.
Eleven regional groups, including city councils and mayoral authorities, are already testing the system with employers, unions, and disabled people throughout the UK. These groups are piloting programs like draft return-to-work plans, pooled occupational health services for small businesses, and on-site case workers to support employees’ health concerns. The government is backing the effort with a £3.5 billion employment support package, including programs like WorkWell and Connect to Work, designed to help people stay in or return to work.
They are also developing an employer standard with the British Standards Institution to ensure quality workplace health support is available to companies of all sizes, and a new data project to help employers better track and improve their workplace health efforts.
