Companies that offer their staff access to counselling, physiotherapy and flu jabs at work should receive tax breaks, according to a report.
The relief would reward companies that help keep Britons healthy and in employment, rather than benefits or sick leave.
Other recommendations include offering NHS health checks in offices and factories to boost uptake and lowering the qualifying age from 40 to 25 in areas of the country where unemployment rates are highest.
It comes as 2.8 million people are currently economically inactive due to long-term illnesses, the highest level since the early 1990s.
Most cite mental health issues or musculoskeletal conditions, such as back or neck pain, the cost of which impedes economic growth.
Most economically inactive people cite mental health problems or musculoskeletal conditions, such as back or neck pain, the cost of which impedes economic growth (File Image)
The Policy Exchange think tank, which produced the report ‘None of Our Business?’ report, wants workplaces to play a bigger role in supporting the country’s health.
It says this could reduce the number of people on long-term sick leave, save the NHS money and cut a growing benefits bill.
The report has received cross-party backing, including Chloe Smith and David Blunkett, both former work and pensions secretaries.
Ministers have admitted that tackling the growing problem of ill health among the working-age population is a “top priority”.
Policy Exchange wants to increase access to occupational health services, which are currently only available to 45 per cent of workers in Britain.
Large employers are three times more likely than small and medium-sized businesses to make them available.
GPs issued 11 million sick leave notes – formally known as “fit notes” – last year, of which 94 per cent were marked “unfit for work”.
But the report’s authors say GPs could reduce this number if they were allowed to refer patients to occupational health professionals for “further assessment”.
They could then suggest workplace accommodations and help rehabilitate staff.
Businesses that use empty premises on high streets to offer physiotherapy or vaccination clinics could receive discounts on their business rates, as could those that join other local businesses to offer “group services”, experts add.
In addition, they want more doctors and nurses trained in occupational health and are calling on the leisure sector to play a bigger role in supporting people with back and neck pain.
Sickness and poor health among people of working age are estimated to cost the country £150 billion a year, which is almost as much as the annual budget of NHS England.
Last year, 186 million workdays were lost due to illness or injury.
Employees took an average of 7.8 days off sick, the highest level in a decade and two days more than in 2019.
Of the 11 million “fit notes” issued last year, only 6.9 per cent of them indicated that a person “may be suitable for work” and offered workplace advice.
Sean Phillips, head of health and social care at Policy Exchange and lead author of the report, said: “If we want to break the cycle of poor health and rising state spending, we need to think differently about the role employers can play in preventing illnesses and more effectively support employees to stay or return to work.
‘Expanding occupational health services – both inside and outside the NHS – is key to this, but we will not convince employers to ‘do the right thing’ by simply requiring them to do more.
‘Incentives along with clear and targeted information are needed so that employers can choose high-quality, cost-effective services to support their workforce.
‘Spending on working-age disability benefits is expected to rise from £19bn to £29bn during the next parliament, while the working-age disability bill will rise from £26bn to £34 billion.
A third of people lose work for four weeks or more, at which point 20 percent will never work again.
Once people are discharged for six months, 80 percent of them will never return to work.
Meanwhile, it is estimated that companies spend almost £1,000 a year per employee on sick leave.
Last week, the Government announced an occupational health task force, chaired by Dame Carol Black, to improve employers’ awareness of the benefits of occupational health.
Businesses using empty premises on high streets to offer physiotherapy or vaccination clinics could receive discounts on their business rates (File image)
In a foreword to the report, Lord Blunkett, former Work and Pensions Secretary, said: ‘Poor health among people of working age is holding Britain back.
“It is the big brake on economic growth, increasing pressures on the NHS, increasing demand for social benefits and impeding productivity… there are many people who could benefit enormously from physiotherapy, a chiropractor or mental health support who then they could clearly to work again.
‘Conservative MP Chloe Smith said: ‘Policy Exchange’s latest report could hardly be more timely. Long-term illnesses are the main factor of economic inactivity today.
“While the Government has made great progress in tackling this issue, a renewed focus is needed on improving the link between health services and employers to drive opportunity, productivity and growth in the coming months.”