Keep Britain Working: what HR professionals need to know

Economic inactivity is now one of the most pressing challenges facing the UK economy, with a significant impact on employers in terms of recruitment, retention and absence management.

The Government’s Keep Britain Working Review (the Mayfield Review) and its response to the Pathways to Work consultation outline a coordinated plan to reduce inactivity — with HR professionals at the centre of the solution.

The UK economic inactivity challenge: health, work and workforce gaps

According to the latest ONS figures, over nine million working-age adults in the UK are currently economically inactive, and long-term ill health is a major driver. Since 2019, the number of people leaving work due to health conditions has risen sharply, costing the economy more than £200 billion a year.

For employers, this translates into:

• Higher absence
• Skills shortages
• Greater recruitment pressure.

The Government’s message is clear: keeping people in work is now a shared priority between business, the NHS and policymakers.

The Mayfield Review: a new approach to workforce health

The Keep Britain Working Review, led by Sir Charlie Mayfield, calls for a national shift in how employers think about health and work. It urges a move from reactive absence management to proactive prevention and retention. A reduction in the fear that pervades this landscape – for both individuals and employers – leading to open-dialogue between the two, is at the heart of the required shift.

Key messages for HR professionals

• Lead cultural change: Encourage supportive relationships and open, honest conversations that enable early disclosure and safe sharing.
• Act early: Provide timely adjustments and conversations during recruitment and onboarding, and when employees experience health difficulties.
• Focus on prevention: Invest in wellbeing, job design and flexibility before health issues escalate.
• Collaborate: Work closely with health services, Government programmes and other employers to strengthen pathways to access support.

The review also proposes a three-year “vanguard phase” in which 60 leading employers test new health-at-work models and contribute to developing future national standards to be adopted across workplaces in years four to seven of the initiative.

Pathways to Work: aligning benefits and employer support

Alongside the Review, the Government’s response to the Pathways to Work consultation focuses on reforming benefits and employment support. It seeks to help more people with long-term health conditions and disabilities enter or stay in work through:

• earlier, personalised support;
• simplified assessments; and
• better integration between employers, job centres and healthcare providers.

Future policy is expected to place greater emphasis on employer participation and accountability in helping people remain economically active.

Preparing for change driven by the Mayfield Review

Whilst many workplaces have already implemented good practices to support workplace health to aid recent recruitment challenges, retain good employees and reduce levels of absence, the Government’s focus on inactivity signals a further shift in the employer’s role in workforce health.

For businesses where further steps can be taken, this is an opportunity to get ahead of the game before it becomes mandatory to adopt new national standards.

1. Analyse your data: Identify patterns in long-term absence, turnover and adjustments.
2. Upskill managers: Train line managers to have informed, supportive conversations about health and capability at the earliest opportunity.
3. Strengthen flexibility: Build adaptable roles and phased return options into workforce planning.
4. Engage with external support: Partner with occupational health and wellbeing providers and, once available, embed new government standards around good practice.
5. Track progress: Measure success through qualitative data relating to retention, engagement, and absence levels, and through employee feedback by way of surveys and conversations with affected members of the workforce.

Why UK economic inactivity matters now

With economic inactivity directly affecting productivity, competitiveness and the labour market, workforce health has become a key focus of businesses.

The Mayfield Review and Pathways to Work reforms both point to a future in which health-related employer standards are normalised and possibly even made mandatory.

HR teams must act early to improve employee wellbeing and prepare accordingly to craft the right workplace culture and policies ahead of regulatory change.