The annex on international comparisons is also useful.

This chart/table highlights one of the issues that has got a bit lost in the employment rights bill debates - just how low our statutory sick pay is!

In a week where a lot of attention has rightly been focused on steep health-related benefit cuts, it provides a helpful corrective to the narrative - focusing on the critical role of worker retention and making workplaces accessible for disabled people to begin with.

Again, this reflects a recommendation from the Commission for Healthier Working Lives for a caseworker support model for people experiencing work and health challenges (see below)

But for this to work, people need to feel that the 'help' will actually help, and not be forced through the door.

We were also pleased to see a 'right to try' guarantee, that was called for by the Commission, and others (including @jrf-uk.bsky.social and @neweconomics.bsky.social )

The Commission called for 18 months 👇 it sounds like the current proposals could potentially be more radical (devil in detail etc)

The time-limited 'Unemployment Insurance' benefit is potentially transformative, moving us closer to a model found in many similar countries.

It reflects a recommendation from the @healthfoundation.bsky.social Commission for Healthier Working lives last week

www.health.org.uk/reports-and-...

Not a full answer, but colleagues at the Learning and Work Institute looked into this as part of an evidence review for the Commission for Healthier Working Lives

learningandwork.org.uk/resources/re...

The report has 7 recommendations

Key among them is expanding caseworker support to people at risk of falling out of work, and getting financial support to people faster through better sick pay and a reforms to benefits.

Better practical support alone is projected to save £1bn+ over 5 years

Why is this needed?

📈 20% of working-age people (8.2mn) now report a work-limiting health condition.

📤 300,000 people leave the workforce each year and report a work-limiting health condition.

This is putting significant pressures on employers, public spending and, critically, individuals too.

What this points to - IMO - is the complexity of understanding prevalence in an environment where our understanding of MH is changing.

E.g. see below - there are ~3x as many people reporting work-limiting MH conditions than 20 years ago, but 12x(!) as many with non-work limiting MH conditions

This should start with the public sector.

In most parts of the UK, the nearby hospital or local authority is a key employer.

Government and NHS need to lead from the front in providing more healthy and inclusive work opportunities.

As the Commission said:

The challenge is very different across industries.

Construction, and transport/storage stand out as having a mix of job quality challenges.

Burnout is highest in health and and education roles.

Sector specific challenges may require sector specific solutions...

By and large, these issues have been getting worse.

The most recent good data suggests about 1 in 6 workers face high levels of job strain, up from about 1 in 20 in the early 90s.

Teachers and nurses stand out as particularly affected.

Work in the UK is unusually demanding.

People are more likely to be working to be tight deadlines, with less say over how they go about their work.

Intense work environments not only make people sicker, they can also make it harder for people with health conditions enter and remain in work.

Lots expected in today's employment white paper.

One less eye-catching announcement will be a new focus on retention and inclusive work, as the Commission for Healthier Working Lives has called for.

Some insights on the challenge, from our partners @employmentstudies.bsky.social ⬇️