Overview
- Ministers endorsed the review’s plan and are recruiting vanguard employers including John Lewis, Google UK, Burger King and the British Beer and Pub Association.
- Since 2019, an additional 800,000 people have left work due to health problems, taking the total economically inactive because of sickness to about 2.8 million.
- Young adults are most affected, with economically inactive 16–34 year olds with mental-health conditions up by 190,000 (76%), and a 22-year-old leaving work due to long-term sickness could lose over £1 million in lifetime earnings.
- The review estimates around £85 billion in lost output to employers and roughly £47 billion in extra welfare and NHS costs each year, contributing to an overall burden of about 7% of GDP.
- Recommendations include a new workplace health provision, reforms to the fit-note system and fast-tracked alternative dispute resolution alongside planned day-one employment rights.