Former chairman John Lewis, whose review of Keep Britain Working exposed the scale of Britain’s sickness crisis last year, said tackling long-term sickness-related unemployment would unlock “hidden in plain sight” economic growth.
Each company involved will track sickness absence, return-to-work outcomes and disability participation, data the government says will make occupational health performance visible for the first time. Ten mayoral authorities, including London and Manchester, have also agreed to take part.
The intervention comes with the human cost of the problem all too apparent. According to the Office for National Statistics, an estimated 148.8 million working days were lost due to illness or injury last year, while UK sick days have reached a 15-year high, and mental illness is now the leading cause of long-term absence.
“I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met who say: ‘I was laid off for three months, or six months, and I never contacted my employer at all,'” he said. “That’s not because the employer is a bad person. It’s because we’ve got a situation at the minute where people don’t talk to each other when they really need to.”
Sir Charlie’s comments also come at a politically charged time, as pressure mounts on Andy Burnham, who is expected to become prime minister at the end of this month, to take part in the welfare forecast which will account for 23.6 per cent of total government spending in the 2025 to 2026 financial year.
Sir Charlie said his plans, built on the recommendations of a government-mandated review he published last year, could help reduce that bill.
“Fixing these issues at the grassroots level can really make a big contribution to making this economy work better, for employers, for workers, for taxpayers, for all of us,” he said. “This is not a zero-sum game. It’s not a question of employers win and employees lose and vice versa. Everybody can win.”
He suggested Burnham would back the initiative. “I don’t see any reason why he wouldn’t because of what Andy said about positive growth. If this isn’t positive growth, I’m not sure what is, frankly.”
“You wouldn’t need to build one house, open a new route for immigrants, you wouldn’t wait for a group of young people to enter the workforce,” he said. “This is basically growth hiding in plain sight.”
