The government’s announced £240mn investment to trial new ways of getting people back into work are “clearly welcome”, Zurich Insurance head of market management of corporate risk, Nick Homer, has said.
Announced in the autumn Budget, the government has said it will test new approaches and collect evidence on how to tackle the root causes of ill-health inactivity.
In response, Horner stated: “These additional measures that target helping people that have suffered long term sickness back into the workplace are clearly welcome.
“As revealed in our report with the CEBR earlier this year, long term sickness is set to cost the economy more than £66bn a year by the end of the decade unless more is done to help people back to work.”
Additionally, Horner identified one specific area that required attention to encourage people back to work, mental health.
“Mental Health accounts for almost half of all long-term sickness in Britain, yet we know that getting back into work can help mitigate mental health challenges for people,” he explained.
He added that, while getting people back to work is an “important step” in helping their recovery, it is important to ensure that more employers provide vocational rehabilitation services.
This ensures that once someone returns to work, they are able to stay in work.
“But in highlighting the importance of vocational rehabilitation, it is also vital that the Government recognise how employers access this often via group income protection insurance, rather than purchase a virtual reality service directly themselves.”
This is an area the autumn budget gave specific attention to, providing £26mn to open new mental health crisis centres which, it argued, will reduce pressure on A&E services.
“The government is committed to tackling the root causes of mental health problems and supporting people to remain in, return to or find work,” the Budget also stated.
tom.dunstan@ft.com
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