The UK's labour market remains under sustained pressure. A near-record 2.78 million people are out of work due to ill health – a challenge with profound economic, fiscal and social consequences.

The Government has accepted the recommendations of the Keep Britain Working Review and is supporting a three-year vanguard, led by Sir Charlie Mayfield, to test employer-led approaches to improving workforce health and labour market participation.

This paper by the Work Foundation and the Centre for Organisational Health & Wellbeing, Lancaster University draws on a nationally representative UK-wide survey of 1,001 senior business leaders to better understand employer priorities and challenges in supporting workforce health. Findings are compared to a similar survey conducted in 2024.

Key findings include:

• The proportion of employers reporting fewer health-related exits has risen to 33% in 2026, up from 21% in 2024.
• Across 15 measures of workforce health support, an average of 80% of employers rate themselves as well or very well equipped to meet employee health needs.
• However, health provision remains uneven. Three in five employers (58%) do not offer paid time off for medical appointments, only 39% provide occupational health services, and fewer than half (44%) report designing jobs with health needs in mind.
• Across 12 key types of health-related support - including flexible working, enhanced sick pay and access to occupational health - an average of 36% of employers offer each individual measure.
• Only one in five with predominantly older staff aged 55+ (21%) offer key workplace health support – 15.4 percentage points below the survey average. For low-income workforces that figure is 13.3 percentage points less, and employers with largely female or younger workforces (16-24) are also below the sample average.
• Organisational size is a significant driver of provision. While 99% of large employers offer some form of health support, more than a quarter (28%) of the smallest employers offer none – with microbusinesses more than 15 percentage points below the average.

Recommendations

1. Embed prevention and healthy job design as a core employer responsibility
2. Establish local work and health hubs for small and medium sized employers
3. Pilot a supported workdays framework to allow workers to remain in work during periods of reduced capacity, improving health data and providing clearer support for managers
4. Consult on a statutory right to paid time off for medical appointments

Read the full briefing here.

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