More than 250 of Britain's biggest employers have signed up to a taskforce aimed at tackling the 'hidden' economic crisis of long-term sickness, as the former John Lewis chair warned the cost of inaction is £212bn a year.
Sir Charlie Mayfield's 'Get Britain Working' group – backed by companies including British Airways, Tesco, Royal Mail, and several government departments – wants to prevent people dropping out of work due to ill-health and encourage those signed off to return. Sainsbury's, EDF Energy, Currys, and 10 mayoral authorities, including London and Manchester, have also agreed to take part.
“250+ employers join taskforce to tackle long-term sickness costing UK £212bn a year, says Sir Charlie Mayfield.”
But the initiative is not without controversy. Some employers have said that tax rises mean many firms cannot afford to invest, while others have warned against pushing ill people into work.
Under the scheme, participating companies will track sickness absence, return-to-work outcomes, and disability participation – a move the government said would make workplace health performance visible for the first time.
Sir Charlie told the BBC: 'I can't tell you how many people I've met who said: "I was signed off work for three months, or six months, and I never had any contact with my employer at all." 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.'
His comments come as pressure grows on Andy Burnham, widely expected to take over as prime minister later this month, to reduce the UK's welfare bill. According to government figures, total welfare spending in Great Britain is forecast to be 23.6% of total government spending in the 2025-26 financial year.
Sir Charlie said his plans could help cut that bill. 'Fixing these problems at the fundamental level could make a really big contribution to getting this economy working better – for employers, for employees, for the taxpayer, for all of us. 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 his plans. 'I can't see any reason why he wouldn't because of what Andy has said about good growth. If this isn't good growth, I'm not sure what is, quite frankly.'
Getting people back into work who are currently not working due to ill-health would be a simple way of boosting the workforce, he argued. 'You wouldn't have had to build a single house, open a new channel of immigration, you wouldn't have to wait for a cohort of young people to join the workplace. This is basically growth hiding in plain sight.'