"Vocational rehabilitation is key to all this."
- Dr Julie Denning - Working To Wellbeing
Three in five, or 58%, of UK line managers lack a clear understanding of what Sir Charlie Mayfield’s Keep Britain Working report means for employers, new research from Working to Wellbeing has found.
The report, published earlier this year, calls for more workplace support for people with health conditions and disabilities and the establishment of a Workplace Health System alongside the NHS.
Working to Wellbeing says its findings also revealed an underlying divide in how supported and equipped line managers feel to prioritise prevention and return to work, adding that its research highlights the importance of vocational rehabilitation, either as a standalone service or as part of group income protection.
56% of line managers agreed with the statement: 'My employer encourages me to understand what wellbeing support and interventions individual colleagues need to thrive at work', while 19% disagreed and 25% remained neutral.
Similarly, 54% of line managers agreed with the statement: 'My organisation has implemented a strong return to work plan', with 17% saying they disagreed and 29% remaining neutral.
Data from the wider workforce suggest the experience of employees reflects the line manager findings. 48% agreed with the statement: 'I think my line manager has been equipped with sufficient resources to support wellbeing as part of their job'. 22% disagreed, and 31% remained neutral.
READ MORE: Over half of employers offer mental health as preventative support: GRiD
Meanwhile, 45% agreed with the statement: 'My line manager has a good amount of time to support employee wellbeing'. 23% disagreed, and 31% remained neutral.
Today’s findings come against the backdrop of 66% of workplaces expecting rising costs to reduce their healthcare budgets in 2026, and recent data showing that sickness absence costs UK businesses £11.8bn in lost profits in 2025.
In a bid to tackle this, the Keep Britain Working taskforce recently released the proposal that employers contact sick employees within five days and agree return-to-work plans. The goal is to encourage employers to keep in touch, get people the support they need at an early stage, prevent short absences becoming unnecessarily long and, ultimately, boost productivity.
"The business case for tackling all this is already airtight and urgent," Dr Julie Denning, chartered health psychologist and managing director at Working To Wellbeing.
"Although best practice guidelines from the Vanguard phase of the Keep Britain Working review are yet to be published, the goal was made clear when the final report was published in March, namely: workplace absence and economic inactivity are getting out of control, so let’s work together - employers, employees and providers of health services - to prioritise prevention and return to work support, in a way that’s personalised, outcomes-driven and sustainable.
"Vocational rehabilitation is key to all this."
