As part of it’s broader manifesto agenda, the Government has promised to ‘Get Britain Working’, with particular focus being given to reducing the number of individuals who are “economically inactive”, particularly due to ill health, and encouraging people to return to work and stay working. Whilst separate from the ‘Plan to Make Work Pay’, which is being delivered via the Employment Rights Bill and beyond, the two are connected, with the Government’s agenda to ‘Get Britain Working’ being broader than employment law reforms and instead looking at a holistic approach, including reviews to welfare, health, education and employment.
In this article, we consider the Government’s plans to ‘Get Britain Working’, the impact the plans will likely have on employers in the future, and how they can prepare.
Background
The Government attributes much of the economic inactivity to factors such as health conditions, caring responsibilities and lower skill levels. The statistics cited by the Government amplify this message further, including:
- One in every eight young people (aged 16-24) is not currently in work, education, or training
- 2.8 million people were out of work and classed as long-term sick – one of the highest rates of any G7 country
- The number of people claiming health related benefits with no requirement to work has increased by 800,000 since 2019/20 – an increase of 45%
In particular, and of relevance given the recent mental health awareness week, is the prevalence of mental health conditions as a contributor to some of these statistics. Mental health conditions are the most common conditions that affect younger working people who are economically inactive due to long-term sickness – and they have been trending up over the past decade. In fact, the number of workers aged 16 to 34 who report that their mental health limits the type or amount of work they can do has increased more than four-fold over the past decade, and mental health is now the leading work limiting health condition among those aged 44 and younger.
These statistics are included as part of the Government’s case for change as to why it wants to ‘Get Britain Working’.
White Paper
In November 2024, the Government published its Get Britain Working White Paper, which set out details of reforms across a number of areas of Government policy, including the health system, the welfare system, local support systems, support for employers and education. The White Paper notes that the “UK is the only major economy that has seen its employment rate fall over the last 5 years, reversing the previous long-run trend of declining rates of economic inactivity. This has been driven predominantly by a rise in the number of people out of work due to long-term ill health.”
The White Paper sets out a long-term ambition to achieve an 80% employment rate, structured around three pillars. Its main focus is the third pillar, which outlines “the biggest reforms to employment support in a generation, bringing together skills and health to help more people enter and progress in work.”
One key section of this Paper considers how the Government sees employers as playing a key role in the solution to create and maintain healthy and inclusive workplaces.
Green Paper
Following the White Paper, in March 2025, the Government published the Green Paper titled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working, a consultation which seeks views on the approaches the Government should consider around reforming the health and disability benefits system and employment support, including a chapter on supporting employers and making work more accessible. The mission for Government, set out in the Green Paper is, “no one should be consigned to a life on benefits just because they have a health condition or a disability, especially when they’re able to and want to work with the right support in place.”
Keep Britain Working review
To progress these issues, the Government has tasked Sir Charlie Mayfield with leading the ‘Keep Britain Working’ review – an independent review that is due to be published later this year. This review “will consider and make recommendations on the role of employers in creating and maintaining healthy and inclusive workplaces and preventing health-related economic inactivity. It will focus on what employers and government can do to increase the recruitment, retention and return to work of disabled people and people with long-term health conditions.”
The report and recommendations are expected in Autumn 2025.
What are the Government’s proposals?
The key proposals are broad and far reaching, although much is still in the early stages. Proposals include broad potential policy reforms to disability benefits, overhauling the health care system, strengthening workers’ rights and reforming employment support. As part of this latter point, there are significant employer focused goals, centring on employer engagement to “enhance collaboration” with employers to create more job opportunities. The Green Paper suggests that the success of reforms to health and disability benefits is dependent on a “strong and dynamic labour market that is accessible and inclusive” and states that the Government wants “to galvanise a shift to ensure that accessibility and workplace adjustments are fully embedded into recruitment and retention practices.”
The Green Paper notes that disabled people find employers to be inflexible in changing working practices and are often perceived to be “untrained and uninformed.” In addition to the package of employment reforms in the Employment Rights Bill, the Green Paper wants to see changes in employer practices and culture to enable disabled people and those with health conditions to work and thrive in employment. The Green Paper considers that flexible working practices, inclusive recruitment and efforts to implement reasonable adjustments all need to improve.
The review by Sir Charlie Mayfield is awaited, which will make recommendations on the role of employers and could lead to concrete proposals from the Government that will impact employers. However, early themes are clear. The consultation, among other areas, seeks views on the following:
- Support for inclusive workplaces: In particular, the consultation seeks to understand how the Government can support employers of all sizes to know what workplace adjustments they can make to help employers with a disability or health condition.
- Funding for employers and individuals to maximise Access to Work schemes: The consultation asks about funding and the future role, design and delivery model of Access to Work Schemes.
- A cultural shift in employer awareness and action on workplace adjustments: The consultation seeks views on how the Government can utilise the roles of Access to Work, the Health and Safety Executive, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service and the Equalities and Human Rights Commission to achieve this cultural change.
What does all this mean for employers?
While the proposals remain high-level and are still in the early stages of development, the policy direction signals a potential cultural shift in the role of employers. Increasingly, employers may be expected to take on broader quasi-social responsibilities in supporting employee health (particularly mental health) in the workplace. The Government recognises that health and wellbeing are collective issues, with shared responsibility across employers, the state and individuals. This marks a significant departure from the traditional model, where health was largely viewed as the domain of individuals and the state through healthcare and social services. If these proposals progress, they could reshape expectations of the employer’s role in workforce health and inclusion.
Welcoming those into the workforce after periods of ill health or disability also presents both practical opportunities and challenges for employers. For example, there may be increase demands around upskilling, training and rethinking how work is organised and delivered. Employers may also need to enhance their own internal support systems to accommodate a more diverse workforce. This could mean a shift in how work is to be delivered, including new ways of flexible/ phased working, employee mentoring, or strategic partnerships with private health facilities and insurance schemes to provide broader health support.
Despite the challenges, employers have much to gain. As the Government notes, “poor health of the working-age population imposes a large cost on employers, including: poor workplace health impacting performance; costs due to sickness absence; loss of valuable experience when employees drop out of work, and recruitment costs to replace them; and restricted access to the widest pool of potential talent.” Indeed, welcoming experienced and skilled individuals back into the workforce who are currently economically inactive could alleviate employer recruitment and retention pressures and boost productivity. Moreover, it supports the development of a more diverse and inclusive workforce, the benefits of which are well-established.
How can employers best prepare?
While concrete proposals that affect employers are awaited, employers should stay informed and compliant with any developments. In addition, employers could start considering these issues more broadly as part of their strategic long term workforce planning – for example, employers could seek to:
- Build inclusive workforce and skills planning into longer-term strategies. Employers might wish to start thinking now about how to develop a sustainable pipeline of diverse talent and how they can train and invest in the skills required for the future talent that their organisation will need. A shortage of ‘job-ready’ talent in the market could also be addressed by rethinking hiring and development models. This might include alternative pathways such as apprenticeships, supported internships or in-work skills programmes that develop talent on the job.
- Rethink working practices and design roles with flexibility and accessibility in mind. Employers should start with the core questions: what really needs to be done and how? Traditional lengthy and detailed job descriptions may put off potential applicants who might thrive in the organisation but do not necessarily meet all listed competencies or experience. Employers could also consider alternative ways to achieve desired outcomes, including job carving and flexible working patterns or arrangements.
- Consider what role technology can play. Employers could consider investing in accessible technologies now, including for example voice to text programmes, screen readers and even broader technologies such as mental health support apps as a way to future-proof a digital and inclusive workplace.
