A new set of UK Duty of Care Guidelines is calling on policymakers and employers to rethink the relationship between job quality, workforce health and economic growth.
Launched in Parliament by the Westminster-based Policy Liaison Group (PLG) on Workplace Wellbeing, the Guidelines argue that issues such as job design, leadership capability, workload, autonomy and workplace culture should no longer be treated as separate from the UK’s health and economic challenges.
Instead, they set out a practical framework for creating what the PLG describes as a baseline standard for good work – with the aim of preventing harm before it occurs.
The launch comes against a backdrop of rising economic inactivity linked to ill health, pressure on the NHS and weak economic growth. The PLG points to 2.8 million working-age adults currently out of work due to long-term sickness, alongside almost one million young people classified as not in education, employment or training (NEET).
Why good work matters to health and economic growth
At the heart of the Guidelines is a challenge to the way workplace health, healthcare and economic growth are often considered separately.
Gethin Nadin, Chair of the Policy Liaison Group on Workplace Wellbeing and principal author of the Guidelines, said:
“Good work is not a luxury, but an essential component of national infrastructure. Rising economic inactivity linked to ill health proves we cannot solve our greatest economic challenges without improving the conditions of work.”
He added that debates in Westminster too often treat economic growth, healthcare and job quality as separate problems.
The Guidelines instead make the case for a more preventative approach – addressing the conditions within work that can contribute to poor health before employees reach crisis point.
“By focusing on prevention rather than treatment, these Guidelines provide a practical framework to fix job design, protect workforce health, and unlock national performance,” Nadin said.
A practical framework for preventing workplace harm
The Guidelines identify several core elements of good work, including leadership capability, job design, workload management, autonomy and psychological safety.
They call on organisations and policymakers to focus on:
- Ensuring organisational values are reflected in everyday decisions about workload, staffing, management and fairness.
- Identifying and addressing psychosocial risks, including excessive workloads, low autonomy, unclear roles, poor change management and harmful workplace relationships.
- Recognising that workplace risks and access to support can be experienced differently across the workforce.
- Providing accessible and trusted wellbeing support without allowing it to become a substitute for addressing the underlying causes of poor health.
- Assessing employees’ real experience of work, including workload, autonomy, fairness and psychological safety, alongside traditional measures such as sickness absence and productivity.
The emphasis on job design is particularly significant. While employers have increasingly invested in wellbeing support, employee assistance programmes and health benefits, the Guidelines argue that these interventions should not distract from the need to address the way work itself is designed and managed.
“Healthier workplaces can help create healthier people”
The Guidelines were launched in Parliament after being delivered to 10 Downing Street earlier in the day.
Parliamentarians, employers and workplace wellbeing leaders attended the event, including Labour MP for Warrington North Charlotte Nichols, who wrote the foreword to the Guidelines, alongside Baroness Carmen Smith and Conservative MP Gagan Mohindra.
Dame Carol Black GBE, one of the UK’s leading authorities on work and health, also addressed the event.
Nichols said:
“Healthier workplaces can help create healthier people, a stronger economy and a more prosperous Britain.”
Dame Carol Black added that healthy workplaces are fundamental to a healthy and productive society.
“Policymakers need a clear understanding of what good work looks like and why it matters,” she said. “These Guidelines provide a practical, evidence-informed framework that I hope will support better decisions for the benefit of workers, employers and the wider economy.”
Bridging the gap between large employers and SMEs
The PLG’s work has also highlighted significant differences between larger employers and small and medium-sized enterprises.
While larger organisations may have dedicated HR, occupational health and wellbeing teams, SMEs can lack the awareness, knowledge and resources needed to move away from reacting to crises towards a more preventative approach.
Professor Sir Cary Cooper CBE said the Guidelines could provide a roadmap for policymakers, employers and wider stakeholders across the private, public and third sectors, including SMEs.
The Guidelines are intended to offer a practical baseline that can help organisations understand the conditions needed to create healthier and more sustainable workplaces – regardless of their size or sector.
A timely intervention for the future of work
The publication comes at a pivotal moment for workplace health and employment policy.
The Guidelines respond to a number of major developments, including the Employment Rights Act awaiting secondary legislation, the Financial Inclusion Strategy and the Government-backed Keep Britain Working Review and Young People and Work review.
Both the Keep Britain Working Review, led by Sir Charlie Mayfield, and Sir Alan Milburn’s work on young people and employment have highlighted the importance of tackling the factors that contribute to economic inactivity and poor workforce health.
The PLG argues that workplace design must be part of the solution.
Maria Paviour, Advisory Board Member of the Policy Liaison Group on Workplace Wellbeing and CEO of Optimism Consulting, said:
“Our workplaces, communities, families and educational establishments can all benefit from taking practical steps that enable people to thrive and ensure that wellbeing is embedded in the way organisations operate.”
For employers, the message is clear: workplace wellbeing cannot sit separately from the way work is designed, managed and experienced.
If the UK is serious about improving health, workforce participation and productivity, the question may no longer be whether organisations can afford to invest in good work – but whether the country can afford not to.
You can download the full report here.
You’ll be able to hear Gethin speaking at our forthcoming Make a Difference Leaders AGM & Leadership Forum, taking place on 19th October at the British Library. To receive the agenda and registration details, click here.
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