Businesses including Nando’s, Burger King and Tesco are supporting a new government push to tackle a rising tide of ill health by building healthier, more resilient workplaces.
The trio are part of a group of more than 60 early adopters, described by the UK Government as “vanguards”, who will develop and refine workplace health approaches over the next three years to build the evidence base for what works.
It follows the publication of the independent Keep Britain Working Review which found employers are losing £85bn a year from sickness, turnover and lost productivity.
The review was led by Sir Charlie Mayfield, former chair of John Lewis Partnership, who was tasked with exploring issues surrounding ill-health and disability in the workplace and making recommendations.
Mayfield described workplace ill health as “a quiet but urgent crisis” that “touches everyone”. He identified three persistent problems in relation to health and disability within the workplace: a culture of fear, a lack of an effective or consistent support system for employers and their employees, and structural challenges for disabled people.
His review recommended a “fundamental shift” from a model where health at work is largely left to the individual and the NHS, to one where it becomes a shared responsibility between employers, employees and health services.
Mayfield urged the government to quickly roll out the vanguard initiative and said it should focus on three deliverables: a healthy working lifecycle, better workplace health provision, and the creation of a workplace health intelligence unit tasked with providing evidence of what works.
“Britain is sliding into an avoidable crisis,” said Mayfield. “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, preventing health issues where possible, supporting people when they arise, and helping them return to work.”
The review was welcomed by UKHospitality, which will act as a sector vanguard, inputting into new policy design and sharing best practice and insight.
“This business-first approach is critical in order to utilise hospitality’s unique qualities as an entry point for those coming back into work or starting work for the first-time,” said UKHospitality chair Kate Nicholls.
