New research by the Work Foundation at Lancaster University examining the reasons behind workers dropping out of the UK jobs market after sickness, reveals the true scale of interventions needed to stem the flow of people leaving work due to ill health.

Following the Government’s newly unveiled plans to ‘Get Britain Working’, the Work Foundation at Lancaster University today publishes a new report which tracks the employment journeys of 9,169 UK workers aged 16-60 from 2017/18 to 2021/22, focusing on those who became ill within the first two years of the study. 

Using Understanding Society data, researchers found that nearly one in ten employees (9%) who had experienced a decline in health had left the labour market by the end of the four-year study period. Almost half of those employees had left work within the first 12 months. Men were more likely to leave within the first year (4.7%) compared to women (3.9%). 

The Work Foundation says data shows accessing flexibility at work is key for those with health conditions being able to remain in work. Employees without any flexibility in their job roles were four times more likely to leave work after a health decline, while those with low levels of control over their working hours, pace, tasks, order and work manner were 3.7 times more likely to leave their job.

However, the Work Foundation report highlights what researchers call an ‘awareness to action gap’ amongst UK employers when it comes to addressing ill health at work.

From a survey of more than 1,000 senior business leaders across Great Britain, two thirds of senior business leaders (64%) said poor employee health had a detrimental effect on their organisation’s economic performance but less than half (48%) of employers offered flexible working arrangements to their employees. 

Despite a legal obligation for employers to proactively assess and manage work-related risks to mental health, only around a third of businesses surveyed said they were introducing other measures to prevent ill health, such as assessing workplace mental health risks (36%) and implementing adjustments to manage workload, work pace and role clarity (37%).

Ben Harrison, Director of the Work Foundation at Lancaster University, said: “The UK Government’s ‘Get Britain Working’ agenda focuses on supporting those who have fallen out of the labour market to return – but if we do not consider the factors that drive people to leave in the first place, we risk treating the symptoms rather than the cause.

“The evidence is clear that once someone leaves work due to ill health, it becomes increasingly more challenging to help them back into employment. To achieve the Government’s ambition to boost the employment rate to 80%, we must take action to stem the flow of those leaving work due to sickness, and find new ways to ensure they remain connected to the labour market.” 

Researchers found that being affected by multiple conditions makes it significantly more likely that workers will leave employment. Those with a single disability or health condition were 1.5 times more likely than those without a health condition or disability to leave work following a negative health transition. However, this likelihood of leaving work increases to 2.4 times for those with two disabilities or health conditions and increases to 5.6 times for those with three or more conditions.

In addition, workers with poor mental health who experience the onset of a disability or health decline are nearly twice as likely (1.9 times) than those with good mental health to leave their job. 

“We find workers with multiple health conditions – including mental health issues – are especially vulnerable to the risk of early exit from work,” Ben Harrison continues. “But crucially the evidence also suggests that early action from employers to support workers who experience ill health can make a big difference to retaining them in the workplace. It’s vital that the Keep Britain Working review identifies new ways for the Government and employers to work together to provide this early intervention.” 

Professor Stavroula Leka from Lancaster University is a co-author of the research. She said: “Unlike other nations such as Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands, the UK Government does not provide adequate support to employers by coordinating the provision of preventative occupational health services. 

“From the business leaders we surveyed, 65% acknowledge the importance of occupational health - yet only 37% provide these services to their employees. 

“With the number of working age people living with major illnesses projected to grow, it’s clear the UK’s current systems need work. There is not enough focus on prevention and early intervention to support ill workers to stay in employment.” 

Amongst its recommendations, the Work Foundation report calls on the Government to:

• Ensure the Employment Rights Bill enshrines secure and flexible working from day one of employment 
• Revise the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 to reflect current modern workforce challenges, including psychosocial risks and mental health issues, and enhance enforcement of mental health risk assessments and preventive measures 
• Lead a strategic transformation of occupational health services focused on improved and extended coverage for all workers, with mandatory provision by large employers 
• Establish a UK-wide network of one-stop workforce health hubs, offering funded SME services and integrated with public health initiatives 
• Strengthen and increase Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) to promote retention and enable a phased return to work
• Examine the practicalities of extending the duty of care for employers, subsidising the cost of long-term sickness absence, and incentivising vocational rehabilitation 

To read the report – Stemming the tide: Healthier jobs to tackle economic inactivity – and recommendations in full, please visit the Work Foundation website: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/work-foundation/publications/stemming-the-tide