Support for Keep Britain Working ramps up across employers and regions

In all, some 150 organisations employing 1.5million people across 24 sectors, 10 mayoral and strategic authorities and all nations of the UK have signed up to be part of the Vanguard phase – doubling down on the Government’s pledge to make it an employer led movement.

The Vanguard employers include household names like Transport for London and Siemens, small and mid-size employers, across public and private sectors and several providers of workplace health services.

Work is underway to develop practical, scalable solutions across several aspects of the ‘healthy working lifecycle’, including improving disability inclusion; acting early to prevent deteriorating health at work; supporting employees to remain and return to work; and looking at how we can better measure key outcomes to improve data visibility across the workplace.

The work will help to reduce the number of people leaving work prematurely for reasons of ill-health each year. 2.8 million people are currently out of work due to long-term sickness. That amounts to one in five working-age adults now out of the labour force – 800,000 more than in 2019. Government and business are taking action now to build a stronger workforce and stronger economy.

Sir Charlie Mayfield, author of the Keep Britain Working Review & Co-Chair of the Keep Britain Working programme, said

The numbers speak for themselves. This is a serious problem. But, it’s also fixable. The response and engagement from employers, mayors and leaders across the whole of the UK has been extraordinary. We are moving at pace to surface, consider and solve the issues.

The Vanguards will feed into the Review’s plans on developing a Standard for employers in the UK to adopt, in conjunction with the British Standards Institution (BSI).

Alongside this, a new independent advisory group made up of experienced people from a range of backgrounds, including employers, trade unions, disability inclusion, and healthcare – will provide expert advice to Sir Charlie Mayfield and the government on how to best move the programme forward.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said

I want to thank Sir Charlie Mayfield for his ongoing work spearheading this programme.

That 150 organisations have already stepped forward to be part of it, showing just how much appetite there is for an employer-led approach to supporting disabled employees and those experiencing ill-health.

Business is our partner in building a productive workforce because when businesses retain talent and reduce workplace ill-health, everyone wins.

Business Secretary Peter Kyle said

Businesses are the backbone of our drive to get people back into work, with their success critical to economic growth.

That’s why it’s so great to see more and more employers stepping forward to become vanguards, demonstrating good employers recognise that when they back their workers, their workers back them.

Minister for Secondary Care Karin Smyth said

Good health is the foundation of a productive working life, and this programme shows what’s possible when government and employers work together with that shared goal in mind.

Too many people are leaving work early because of ill-health that could have been prevented or better managed. Keep Britain Working is changing that — by embedding healthy working practices across sectors and regions, we can help people stay well, stay in work, and thrive. That’s something we’re mirroring in both our National Cancer Plan and Men’s Health Strategy, which set out how we can work with employers to make sure people are supported when they experience ill health.

I’m delighted to see so many organisations stepping up as Vanguards, and I look forward to seeing the practical changes this programme will deliver for working people across the country.

This progress supports the government’s Plan for Change commitment to help more people get a job, stay in work and progress in their careers. This is integral to our mission to tackle the ill-health inactivity crisis and raise living standards across the UK.

This progress also comes following a £3.5 billion package of employment support by the end of the decade to help more sick or disabled people into work. We are expanding WorkWell across the country, supporting up to 250,000 people to return or stay in work and backed by £259 million.

We’re also providing 300,000 sick or disabled people with tailored help through Connect to Work by the end of the decade, partnering with employers to transform how disabilities are managed at work, following the Keep Britain Working Review, and have put in place the equivalent of over 1,000 full-time Pathways to Work advisers across Britain to support disabled people into work.

Louise Harry, Director of Sustainability and Environment, Health and Safety at Siemens, said

The data shows that supporting wellbeing – both for people in work already and those looking for roles – is vital to enhance UK productivity and growth. As well as addressing mental health there is a range of work needed to help people living with disabilities so the UK can make the most of our brilliant talent pool. We’re looking forward to supporting this alongside the other Vanguard employers as this initiative continues to progress.

Dr Sam Phillips, Head of Health and Wellbeing at Transport for London said

We are proud to have been one of the first organisations to commit to being a vanguard. We take a very proactive approach in the promotion of health and wellbeing of our staff and supporting colleagues to return to work if they experience ill health. It has been a great opportunity to be a vanguard and lead the smaller group of employers developing the principles of employers’ role in ill health prevention – an exciting initiative which will influence the future workplace standard.

Susan Taylor Martin, Chief Executive, BSI said

The Keep Britain Working review rightly identified the immense challenge we are facing around workplace absence and low productivity. Supporting people to lead healthy, productive and fulfilled lives at work, and in doing so giving businesses access to the pool of talent they need, is a critical goal.

BSI has extensive experience developing standards to help employers improve employee wellbeing, manage ill-health in the workplace, and nurture inclusive working environments. BSI is proud to support this vital mission to help individuals and organizations to thrive, contribute to economic growth and enable more people to flourish at work.

Dr Sarah Jackson, Chief Executive at EDF said

EDF is committed to championing employee health and wellbeing at every stage of working life. National recognition of this mission creates a rare opportunity to help transform the future of work in Britain. We’re proud to join the Vanguard and fully committed to helping this important initiative deliver its bold vision.

We are pleased to be working with many of our Members to support the Vanguard scheme and to have led the workshops to help inform the disability inclusion part of this work. We hope the work will lead to solutions that will move forward the Keep Britain Working agenda and, crucially, help to close the disability employment gap.

Additional Information

Advisory panel members