Government broadens employer-led action to help prevent workers from leaving jobs due to ill health
The UK Government has announced the next phase of its Keep Britain Working programme, expanding its employer-led programme to help more people stay in work, reduce health-related economic inactivity and improve workplace support.
The latest update forms part of the government’s wider strategy to tackle health-related economic inactivity by encouraging employers, mayoral and strategic authorities, and workplace health providers to develop practical solutions that help people remain in work or return after illness.
According to the government, around 150 organisations employing approximately 1.5 million people have now joined the programme’s Vanguard phase. The initiative also includes 10 mayoral and strategic authorities, together with representatives from all four nations of the UK, more than doubling participation since the review was published in November 2025.
The Vanguard programme is focusing on several priorities, including improving disability inclusion, supporting early intervention when employees experience health problems, helping people remain in work, strengthening return-to-work support and improving workplace data to measure outcomes more effectively.
The government stated that the work will contribute to developing a Healthy Working Lifecycle Standard in collaboration with the British Standards Institution, supported by an independent expert advisory panel comprising employers, trade unions, disability inclusion specialists, and healthcare experts.
Official figures cited in the announcement show that 2.8 million people are currently out of work because of long-term sickness, representing more than one in five working-age adults who are economically inactive. The government says reducing the number of people leaving work because of ill health remains a key objective of the programme.
The government described the programme as an employer-led movement intended to develop practical workplace solutions to reduce health-related economic inactivity. The programme is being taken forward following the independent Keep Britain Working Review, led by former John Lewis Partnership chairman Sir Charlie Mayfield.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said the growing number of organisations participating demonstrates strong support for an employer-led approach that helps disabled employees and people experiencing ill health remain in employment. She said businesses play an important role in building a productive workforce because retaining experienced staff benefits employers, employees and the wider economy.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said businesses are central to the government’s plans to strengthen economic growth and welcomed the increasing number of employers participating in the programme.
The government also highlighted wider measures designed to support employment, including a £3.5 billion employment support package by the end of the decade, the expansion of WorkWell, the Connect to Work programme and additional Pathways to Work advisers to help more disabled people and those with health conditions stay in or move into employment.