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Improving Lives: Government Consultation on Health at Work
A Green Paper has been published by the Government called Improving Lives. This presents the Government’s vision for the next ten years on how the relationship between work and health in the hope of achieving significant improvement. As part of the review, the Government is seeking views on how people with long term health conditions and disabilities can enter into the workplace, but also how they can remain at work in the long term. Other topics to be considered as part of the consultation are how employer prejudices, which the government suggest have ‘become engrained….in the policies and minds of employers’, can be challenged and confronted.
The Paper suggests that employment rates in the UK amongst disabled people demonstrate one of the most significant inequalities today, with fewer than half of disabled people in the UK being in employment compared to 80% of non-disabled people. The Paper suggests a variety of measures and actions will be taken to address this issue, including changing cultures and mind-sets in society, ensuring people with disabilities and long term health conditions have equal access to labour market opportunities and investing in innovation to understand what works best in tackling this issue.
The Government suggests that they want to effectively promote health and well-being in the workplace. As part of this, there is a proposal for the current fit note regime is to be reviewed, as there is a suggestion that this has not been effective in encouraging people back to work. It has also been suggested that the government proposes to reform the statutory sick pay regime.
The consultation will be open until 17th February 2017. Those wanting to get involved in the consultation can share their views via the following methods:
Website: https://consultations.dh.gov.uk/workandhealth/consult/
Email: workandhealth@dwp.gsi.gov.uk
Post: The Work, Health and Disability consultation, Ground Floor, Caxton House, 6–12
Tothill Street, London, SW1H 9NA.
The full Green Paper can be seen by accessing the following link: