Published : 4 days ago, on 05/12/2024

By David Milliken

LONDON (Reuters) – British employees whose health deteriorates are four times more likely to drop out of the labour market if they have little or no flexibility over their working conditions, according to a report published on Thursday.

The Work Foundation, a research group that is part of Lancaster University, said Britain’s new government should raise short-term sick pay and increase the requirements on employers to offer occupational health support and flexible working.

“Once someone leaves work due to ill health, it becomes increasingly more challenging to help them back into employment,” Work Foundation Director Ben Harrison said.

Britain’s governing Labour Party promised to tighten employment laws before winning a large election victory in July 4. It has also said it will boost labour force participation to 80% of the working age population from under 75% now.

However, some businesses are concerned that tighter hiring rules will further push up costs that are already set to rise due to higher employment taxes and a rise in the minimum wage.

The Work Foundation studied data based on repeat interviews with more than 9,000 workers between 2017/18 and 2021/22.

Of those who reported a new disability or other health condition between 2017 and 2019 – before the COVID-19 pandemic – some 9% had left the workforce by 2021 or 2022.

Employees with little control over their working hours, pace of work, tasks, order or manner of work were 3.7 times more likely to quit if they suffered a health setback, the research showed.

Leaving the labour market due to ill health appeared most common for healthcare workers, teachers and retail workers, but small sample sizes made it hard to draw strong conclusions, the Work Foundation said.

(Reporting by David Milliken; Editing by William Schomberg)