Firms told to invest £6bn to fix long-term sickness crisis

Employers have been told in a landmark government review that fixing Britain's crisis of health-related worklessness will require them to spend £6bn a year supporting staff.

- Richard Partington

In a major report before this month's budget, Sir Charlie Mayfield warned that businesses needed to play a central role in tackling a rising tide of ill health that is pushing millions out of work.

The former chair of John Lewis, appointed last year by ministers to lead the government's "keep Britain working" review, said a drastic expansion in occupational health was needed to prevent hundreds of thousands of people from leaving the workforce each year.

Mayfield said: "What we are proposing is a fundamental reset in terms of how health is handled in the workplace ... where health becomes a true partnership between employers, employees and the health services generally. That is not a small move, but a big move, and a fundamental shift."

Ministers have grown increasingly alarmed by a dramatic rise in working-age adults falling out of the workforce due to ill health in recent years, particularly young adults.