11 Feb 2026

What employers can do to help prevent long-term ill-health

In the past decade, employers have faced a major shift in the health landscape of their workforce.

Chronic conditions - from musculoskeletal disorders and cardiovascular illnesses to anxiety, depression, and other long-term mental health challenges - are not only more common, but increasingly affecting the ability of people to remain in work and live fulfilling lives.

The question is no longer whether employers should act, but how.

The UK Government-commissioned Keep Britain Working Review identifies long-term ill-health as the single biggest driver of people leaving the workforce. It calls for a reset in how employers approach health; moving from reactive responses to proactive, preventative support.

Why are chronic conditions increasing?

The rise in chronic conditions is not the result of a single trend, but several overlapping pressures:

1. An ageing and extended-working-life population

People are living longer and working longer. While this is economically necessary, it increases the likelihood that employees will experience conditions such as arthritis, cardiovascular disease, diabetes or sensory impairment during their working lives. Many of these conditions are manageable, but only if work adapts alongside health.

2. Mental health as a long-term condition

Mental ill-health is now one of the leading causes of long-term sickness absence. Stress, anxiety, depression and burnout are increasingly chronic rather than episodic, particularly when combined with job insecurity, workload intensity and limited flexibility. The pandemic accelerated this trend, but it didn’t create it.

3. Post-viral and fluctuating conditions

Long Covid has exposed a wider issue: the workforce is not designed for fluctuating health. Conditions characterised by fatigue, pain or cognitive impairment don’t fit neatly into “fit/unfit for work” models - yet many workplace policies still rely on exactly that.

4. Compounding pressures, including caring responsibilities

Millions of employees balance paid work with unpaid caring for a family member or friend. There are around 7.7 million carers in the UK workforce, many of whom are managing their own health challenges. Research from Carers UK shows that more than three million carers report long-term health issues themselves, creating overlapping pressures that raise the risk of chronic illness.

Caring responsibilities can amplify fatigue, stress, and burnout, particularly when workplaces lack flexibility or understanding. Carers may delay seeking medical support, neglect their own wellbeing, or struggle to manage fluctuating workloads, which can lead to longer-term absence or exit from work.

Supporting carers proactively is therefore not just compassionate - it is essential for workforce retention and resilience.

Later in the employee lifecycle, these pressures manifest in absence: approximately two million working-age adults in the UK are currently inactive due to long-term sickness (Keep Britain Working Review).

The employer’s role: from reactive to preventative

Traditional workplace wellbeing has focused on crisis response, intervening only once someone is already unwell. That approach is no longer sufficient.

Mounting evidence shows that prevention and early support are far more effective - and more cost-efficient - than late intervention. Poor health at work drives absence, turnover, operational disruption and lost productivity, at a cost to employers estimated in the tens of billions each year.

What’s needed instead is a healthy working lifecycle:

Preventing ill-health where possible
Spotting problems early
Intervening quickly and personally
Supporting people to stay well and remain in work long term

This requires moving beyond one-off wellbeing initiatives toward structured systems that combine flexibility, early conversations, coordinated support and inclusive job design.

Culture and capability matter

A major barrier to early intervention is culture. Employees often fear stigma or career impact if they disclose health or care challenges, while managers fear saying the wrong thing. The result is silence - until absence becomes unavoidable.

Employers can change this by:

Normalising conversations about health, workload and care before crisis
Ensuring disclosure is met with support, not penalty
Training managers to spot early warning signs and make practical adjustments

A holistic approach to support

Workplace health must recognise overlapping pressures. Caring responsibilities, long-term conditions, and fluctuating health are interconnected. Addressing them holistically prevents escalation, reduces absence, and supports sustainable employment.

Practical steps include:

Prevention and awareness: Health promotion, screening, and wellbeing education
Early support and flexibility: Manager training, flexible working options, phased returns
Structured support pathways: Integrating occupational health with external services
Measurement and improvement: Tracking outcomes, reducing stigma, and optimising support

Chronic conditions and long-term ill-health are rising, but employers can make a real difference. By shifting from reactive to proactive, structured, and human-centred approaches, organisations can help employees stay well, stay engaged, and stay in work - benefiting both individuals and the wider economy.