ONS employment stats - Economic inactivity due to long-term sickness at record high

Speaking as a business owner but also as someone with Long Covid, I fear things can only get worse. It is now 3 years since I contracted Covid and I still suffer from fatigue and brain fog, both of which adversely impact my ability to run my business - but of course, there is no SSP for me to fall back on! If I was working, I would have been signed off sick for most if not all of the last 3 years. And that is the issue. Covid is still raging out of hand, still killing people, and still making people very ill indeed. This will no doubt leave a legacy of long Covid and ultimately early retirements due to this will increase.

With increasing rates of long-term sickness, the connection between good employee wellbeing and a healthy, engaged workforce is increasingly being recognised. When an employee is off sick over a long period, the impact can be felt across the organisation as others pick up the pieces, affecting their health and wellbeing and upsetting team performance as fatigue and resentment builds up. Employers looking to boost existing coping skills as well as prevent further problems arising in the future, are turning to workplace wellbeing interventions to support employees to recognise and manage stress in the moment and also to prevent stress and burnout. Evidence-based interventions such as resilience training are particularly effective in supporting staff, boosting coping skills and preventing wider stress and burnout, particularly when they are adapted to the needs of employees, and when employers take action to create a wider physical and social environment that supports health and wellbeing

Long-term sickness is a challenge for any business to manage, but when looking at the stats from the ONS it does make you question why we keep pushing the office on everyone.

I'd challenge this and say one of the best ways to reduce LTS is to offer flexible and hybrid working solutions wherever possible for your teams. Same with adjusting working hours within reason, focusing less on presenteeism and more on output-focused work. I did this with a client and dropped absenteeism by 35% in a quarter, boosting revenue by 12.2% - the numbers don't lie.

For roles that can't be done remotely, give staff access to good private healthcare. It doesn't have to break the bank and it takes the strain off the NHS- and private health cover is often significantly cheaper than a long and drawn-out Occupational Health process. Accessing quality healthcare faster is a game changer for physical and mental health.

We need to focus on prevention, not intervention. That's the game changer.