Following this afternoon’s announcement from the DWP (Department of Work & Pensions) about the new Occupational Health Taskforce to tackle in-work sickness and drive down inactivity, Broadstone’s Brett Hill, Head of Health and Protection at Broadstone shared his reaction commenting:
“We welcome the Government’s new taskforce which we hope will achieve tangible results in raising employer awareness of the benefits of occupational health services, and making such services more accessible to small businesses. We hope this initiative will help tackle the alarming rise of in-work sickness and economic inactivity due to ill health.
“Employers are increasingly playing a key role as the first line of defence for their employees’ health, given the struggles many are facing in accessing primary and secondary care on the NHS. Occupational Health has a crucial role to play but is only one part of this picture.
“Employees who require medical treatment will still face long NHS waiting lists, yet when employers choose to support their employees with employer funded healthcare benefits their employees are penalised through the tax system in the form of P11d tax.
“At a time when many employees are still struggling with cost-of-living pressures this acts as a disincentive and prevents some employees from taking up benefits that might otherwise improve their health and productivity, support the health of the nation and ease the strain on the NHS.”
