Employers are set to be asked to take on a much greater role in tackling long-term sickness and workforce inactivity, according to Sir Charlie Mayfield.
The former John Lewis chair, who is leading the government-backed Keep Britain Working review, said the review’s final recommendations will call for a “big shift” in how workplace health is delivered.
Speaking at an Association of British Insurers (ABI) event yesterday, Mayfield said he hoped the “close to being finished” review will be published before the chancellor’s Autumn Budget in November. But he added that if this didn’t happen publication could move to January 2026.
He told attendees that from the outset, the review had “focused on the how, [as] the what is not that complicated”, prompting Yvonne Braun, ABI director of policy, long term savings, and health and protection, to say he was “solutions agnostic”.
The key question, Mayfield said, was: “How do you get it to happen?” Mayfield stressed that the team had spent significant time engaging with employers to understand both their appetite to be involved and the operational realities of delivering health support in the workplace.
Shared responsibility
Mayfield indicated that the review will advocate for a change in mindset: “We are going to be advocating for quite a big shift from health being predominantly the preserve of the individual and the NHS to one where health becomes much more of a partnership between employees, employers and providers [of] health services. We think that that’s an important shift… one that could make a really material difference to individual employees, employers and to government.”
This approach is expected to focus heavily on prevention. Mental health in particular was highlighted, with Mayfield describing how “sliding doors” moments can affect socially vulnerable employees negatively. Employees with low social confidence, for example, can be pushed towards a very different trajectory, sometimes resulting in a mental health diagnosis that could have been avoided, he said.
He argued that employers and line managers need to recognise the small, everyday opportunities to provide encouragement and inclusion that can ultimately prevent serious mental health issues later.
Accessible and affordable
The review also examined how to make workplace health support more accessible and affordable, especially for small and mid-sized employers. Mayfield acknowledged that while minimum provision “looks pretty affordable” on the whole, for some businesses “even low costs can act as a barrier”.
He urged providers to look at options such as pooling risk, aggregating demand regionally, and innovating to reduce costs without sacrificing quality.
Digital solutions are expected to play a significant role. Mayfield suggested that young employees may feel more comfortable disclosing mental health concerns via a chatbot than to a manager. He said digital tools could provide timely advice and early intervention. He encouraged providers to innovate in this space, arguing that scalable technology could be both more effective and more affordable.
Vital data
A third steer he shared with the audience was that the review wants to see the use of data improve. Mayfield warned that although some employers and providers hold strong datasets, these are fragmented and rarely joined up. “Across the whole market, there is relatively poor data visibility,” he said.
Better data collection and aggregation, he argued, will be vital to demonstrate what works, build evidence cases, and encourage employer adoption through clear return-on-investment metrics.
Mayfield’s steer on the soon to be finished review signals a clear expectation that employers will be much more proactive partners in employee health. This means embedding prevention into everyday management practices, exploring affordable digital solutions, and preparing to collect and share data to prove the impact of interventions.
