What needs to change to get more people working?

A report has outlined the major changes needed to get hundreds of thousands of “economically inactive” people in Britain into work and prevent many more from leaving.

One in every five people of working age is unemployed and not looking for a job. Review by former John Lewis boss Sir Charlie Mayfield.

The report concluded that tackling this problem should be a “shared responsibility” between employers, employees and health services.

So what changes are recommended? The BBC spoke to bosses, workers and GPs about some of the challenges revealed by the Keep Britain Working review.

“Employers will need to do more,” the report states.

In the first place, he says, they should stop people leaving the workplace, support their return to work and remove barriers for disabled people.

But many businesses argued they did not have the money to invest after the increase in employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) and minimum wages in April.

Some small businesses may not have HR departments when it comes to helping manage employees with health issues. A small business owner told the BBC that the report’s findings were “substantial” but that any further action would need to be “practical and realistic”.

Tina McKenzie, head of policy at the Federation of Small Businesses, said the firms they represent were already making “huge efforts” on workplace health.

“Only by supporting the growth of small firms can we recover and expand employment levels,” he said.

It’s a view echoed by Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, who said the report’s recommendations should be “taken together with a concerted effort to reduce the Budget’s tax burden on the sector.”

Lack of money to invest is “one of the main barriers to hospitality realizing its potential to employ more people and get people back to work,” he says.

A healthy workforce is also good for employers, who make an average profit of £120 a day from sick absences, the highest in 15 years.

Hannah Barlow runs Dunsters Farm food business, which employs 200 people, in Bury, North Manchester, which Sir Charlie visited while preparing the report.

Ms Barlow told the BBC the business had been affected by young people falling ill with mental health issues.

The report proposes a “fundamental shift” from workplace health being “largely left to the individual and the NHS” to shared responsibility between employers, employees and health services, which Ms Barlow welcomes.

But he said small businesses don’t have “infinite money” to invest in occupational health, which is needed because of the increasing number of adults diagnosed with conditions such as autism and ADHD.

“How can we help them and where do you draw the line?” he asked.

“Right now it’s up to the employee to do something, but they’re not in a good place, physically and mentally, they can’t engage in those conversations. If there were employer-led signposting about the help they need, that would be a huge relief.”

He said in some cases it was not always practical to keep staff with health issues at work.

“There may be people waiting more than a year for hand or knee surgery,” he said. “The majority of our roles involve lifting goods in the warehouse or driving trucks – there really is no alternative role they can do.”

He said the company is making a big effort to collaborate with institutions, job centers and prisons to hire people who are currently unemployed.

“We found it quite difficult to get involved and it’s frustrating that there isn’t more support for businesses as well as job seekers. How will they apply for these jobs if they’re not tech-savvy?”

The increase in illnesses is due to a “surge” in mental health problems among young people and musculoskeletal problems, aches and joint pain in older people, which leads them to leave work.

But the report emphasizes workers’ “personal responsibility”, warning: “Disconnecting from work and potential support, or relying on welfare as an alternative to work, can put people on a path towards disengagement and dependency rather than recovery and inclusion.”

Katie Livings has chronic fatigue syndrome, which causes fatigue, headaches and light sensitivity. He also has an inflammatory condition that affects his joints.

Speaking to the BBC, the woman said: “The pain can be so severe that I can be completely bedridden and if this happens I cannot work and will be on sick leave for a long time.”

When he graduated from university he worked in a call centre, but “he took sick leave and had to resign very soon after”.

When she was able to return to work, she said she felt “a bit lost” and approached disability charity Scope for help finding a new job.

“I asked for part-time work and on that basis the roles were reduced, which was the biggest reason I was able to go back to work,” he said.

She started working as a paralegal and asked for arrangements to be made to assist her.

“Having access to an ergonomic chair, keyboard and mouse means I can stay at work longer,” he said. Ms. Livings is also able to take regular rest breaks and attend medical appointments frequently at short notice during the day.

Being able to ask for change was “empowering” and “allowed my health to improve,” she said. He has since ascended to the role of paralegal.

The Equality Act 2010 already requires employers to make “reasonable adjustments” for disabled people to prevent them from being put at a significant disadvantage.

Some business groups pointed out that there was a “conflict” with the Keep Britain Working report and that the rules were changed as part of that report. Employment Rights Act It is planned to come into force within two years.

The proposed new law includes the right to guaranteed working hours and strictly adheres to zero-hour contracts without a job offer.

Helen Dickinson, CEO of the British Retail Consortium, said the government’s objectives and policies were “at odds with each other”.

“In its current form, the Employment Rights Act will make it difficult for retailers to continue to offer many important flexible roles.”

UKHospitality’s Ms Nicholls, who worked closely with Sir Charlie, said “unless it is managed carefully there will be conflict”.

He said that in its current form, workers under the Employment Rights Bill are offered guaranteed working hours based on the average of what they do over a 12-week period.

“If we are providing supported pathways back to work or employing people with health conditions or mental health issues, flexibility is the key.”

“Some weeks they might work eight hours, some weeks they might work 40 hours, some weeks they might work nothing at all,” he said, adding that maintaining flexible, temporary, part-time, zero-hour work was “an important part of this.”

The report said that around 93% of suitable notes in England were that the patient was “unfit for work” and “often extended without further consultation”.

However, GPs say it is difficult to decide whether a person is fit to work while ill, although patients themselves are asked to produce sick notes.

The report called for fitness rating reform and recommended widespread adoption of the Workplace Health Provision (WHP).

This will be a non-clinical case management service funded by employers to support staff and line managers.

“WHP will offer support and advice, early intervention, good case management and targeted early-stage treatment pathways,” the report said.

The report stated that it is envisaged that the need for the current compliance note will be reduced or even changed over time.

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, president of the Royal Society of General Practitioners, said part of the reform would be to transfer responsibility for long-term compliance ratings from GPs to more specialist professionals.

“However, the College’s view is that GPs and our teams should still have the option to continue providing appropriate short-term (up to 3 weeks) notes and, where appropriate, maintain some involvement in long-term care and oversight of patients’ overall health.”

Any reform “must be in the best interest of patients,” he said, adding that “this process should never be punitive in nature.”