Half of those who become ill quit their jobs within a year.

As part of its review on health-related inactivity, a think-tank urged the government that large employers be required to have access to occupational healthcare.

In the government’s white paper’Get Britain Working ‘, a review called ‘Keep Britain working’ was conducted to examine how employers and governments can work together in order to combat health-related inactivity.

The Work Foundation released a report that highlighted the fact that 9% workers who suffer a decline in health within four years will have quit the workforce, with half leaving the market within the first twelve months after becoming ill.

It has therefore called for a “strategic transform of occupational health services”, which includes making access to OH mandatory.

The Lancaster University-based foundation tracked the employment paths of 9,169 UK workers aged between 16-60 years old from 2017/18 until 2021/22, with a focus on those who fell ill in the first two study years. The study also revealed that men are more likely than women to quit their jobs within the first 12 months (4.9%)

It concluded that the ability to have flexibility in the workplace was crucial for people with health issues to be able to continue working.

Employees with little control over their work hours, pace, tasks and order were more than three times as likely to quit their jobs after experiencing a decline in health.

The research concluded that having multiple health conditions makes it more likely for workers to leave their jobs.

After a negative transition in health, those with a single health condition or disability were 1.5 times as likely to quit work than those who did not have a disability or health condition.

This likelihood increased by 2.4 times if you have two health or disability conditions, and 5.6 times if you have three or more.

Workers with poor mental wellbeing who experience a disability or deterioration in health are nearly twice as likely to quit their jobs (1.9 times more) than workers with good mental wellness.

The report Stemming tide: Healthy jobs to combat economic inactivity has made a number key recommendations to the government. These include urging ministers:

• Employment Rights Bill should ensure that flexible and secure working is guaranteed from the first day of employment.
• Revise the Health and Safety at Work etc Act to reflect modern workplace challenges, such as psychosocial risks and issues of mental health, and improve enforcement of mental risk assessments and prevention measures.
• Lead a transformational strategy of occupational health services focusing on improving and extending coverage to all workers with the mandatory provision from large employers
• Establish a UK-wide one-stop network of workforce health hubs that offers funded SME services, integrated with public-health initiatives.
• Strengthen and increase Statutory Sick Pay to encourage retention and to enable a gradual return to work.
• Examine the practicalities of extending employers’ duty of care, subsidising long-term absences due to sickness, and encouraging vocational rehabilitation.

Ben Harrison, Foundation director said: “It is vital that the Keep Britain Working Review identifies new opportunities for government and employers working together to provide early intervention.”