Following the Nov 5, 2025 release of “Keep Britain Working,” the UK government is shifting its focus to workforce health and wellbeing, or more accurately, ill-health and disability.
One in five working-age adults are now out of the labour force, which is 800,000 more than in 2019 due to health reasons. The cost of ill-health that prevents work equals 7% of GDP – nearly 70% of all income-tax receipts.
The high rate of economic inactivity is much more than an economic drag. It is a systemic problem with implications for the state, businesses, and the individuals impacted.
Locked Out the Workforce: Multiplying Negatives
As employers lose vital experience as they struggle to retain staff, individuals can become “locked out” of work once they step away. As a result, they risk negatives multiplying through reduced income and poor mental health which further impacts overall well-being.
The report calls for employers to be “In the lead” on this agenda by recognising the cost of ill-health on their wider workforce, as well as those directly involved.
Specifically, the Keep Britain Working report calls for business to see how, by putting prevention first, business can enable staff to stay in work, thus benefitting all involved and contributing to the social value of businesses themselves.
Workforce Health and Social Value
Social value is the positive impact your organisation creates for people, communities, and the environment – and that includes your own team.
Historically, health was often viewed as a private, personal matter, making it difficult to link it to a business’s social value. However, if we only see health as something that happens outside the workplace, businesses miss a vital opportunity to build thriving teams that consistently deliver for customers.
Instead, businesses can leverage workforce health to gather valuable insights and key figures. These results can then easily be included in annual reports, social media, and team updates.
Since staff performance is the foundation of any business’s success, staff health is clearly a core asset. Furthermore, this support benefits employees’ families and communities, visibly championing health and well-being creates a positive culture and brand identity. This, in turn, helps attract prospective clients and gain attention from customers. It’s a win-win for the business.
[You can find the Keep Britain working Report in all accessible formats here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keep-britain-working-review-discoveryain]
Investing in Workforce Health: A Clear Return
Any company making changes that are positively investing in wellbeing of their people will ultimately see how clear returns for the business can be created.
Even the smallest of changes matter. A lunchtime walk, team volunteering day, or skills workshop all contribute not just to healthier people, but to a healthier business – one that values its people, strengthens its culture, and can evidence its positive impact in a language that buyers, funders, and clients understand.
Whether it’s policy changes, or changes in the spaces and places of a working environment, happier and healthier employees are much more likely perform better and stay longer.
For small businesses, such measures can boost the team and staff retention, while simultaneously creating the bid scores within tendering that help secure valuable contracts.
In demonstrating the wider social, economic, and environmental benefits they deliver, businesses are in a stronger position.
Keep Britain Working Report Recognises Employers are Uniquely Placed for Prevention
This report calls for employers to be “on the pitch” as they are “uniquely placed to spot problems early, prevent conditions from escalating, remove barriers and make adjustments, and support recovery”.
Creating policies that enable staff to take up the medical appointments offered, attend their regular check-ups or return to work from sickness with rehabilitation and support, then not only is social value created but a stronger workforce is developed.
This is where health and wellbeing moves from being a “soft issue” in an independent report to government, to a strategic advantage that can help secure future opportunities.
Healthy Working Lifecyle: Improve your Social Score
The report recommends a simple, outcome-focused framework, which has been designed to be clear yet adaptable.
By focusing upon three core outcomes (reduced sickness and absence; improved return to work and greater participation of disabled people) the proposed “healthy working lifecycle” gives business a framework to consider its approach and look how to improve the health of its staff and that of the business itself.
Prioritising health and access to work and its benefits demonstrates social value in practice.
From Impact To Advantage
If you’re reading this, your business is likely already prioritising a healthy workforce and exploring social value. Chances are, you’re doing far more good than you realize.
Discover, share, and benefit from the Social Value your business offers with SocialScore – the digital platform that helps businesses and organisations measure, record, and showcase the social value of their work. Find out more here.
