Tackle workplace disease to unlock hidden growth, says former John Lewis boss.

Tackling unemployment linked to long-term sickness will unlock economic growth “hidden in plain sight”, former John Lewis chairman Sir Charlie Mayfield has said.

More than 250 of the UK’s biggest employers have signed up to the Get Britain Working taskforce, including British Airways, Tesco, Royal Mail and several government departments.

The group aims to prevent people from being out of work due to ill health and encourage those signed up to return, which costs the UK £212bn a year, according to official figures.

however, Some employers have already said Tax hikes mean many firms cannot afford to invest, while others have warned sick people not to return to work.

The registered companies will track sickness absence, return-to-work outcomes and disability participation, in what will be the government’s first visible measure of workplace health performance.

Several large UK businesses including Sainsbury’s, EDF Energy and Kerry have agreed to take part, as well as 10 mayoral authorities from London and Manchester.

Sir Charlie told the BBC: “I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met: “I’ve been signed off for three months or six months, and I’ve had no contact with my employer.

“It’s not because the employer is a bad person. It’s because we have a situation where people on the clock don’t talk to each other when they need to.”

Sir Charlie’s comments come as pressure mounts on Andy Burnham, who is widely expected to take over as Prime Minister later this month. Cut UK welfare payments to free up money elsewhere.

According to government figures, total welfare spending in Great Britain is forecast to be 23.6% of total government spending in the 2025 to 2026 financial year.

Sir Charlie said the plans could help cut that bill.

“Fixing these problems at a fundamental level can go a long way toward making this economy work better — for employers, for workers, for taxpayers, for all of us.”

He added, “This is not a zero-sum game. It’s not a question of employers winning and workers losing and vice versa, everybody winning.”

Sir Charlie Burnham suggested that he would support the plan.

“Given what Andy said about good progress, I can’t see any reason why he wouldn’t. If that’s not good progress, I’m not sure what is, really.”

He said that getting people who are currently unable to work due to health problems to work is an easy way to increase human resources.

“You didn’t have to build a house, you didn’t have to open a new migration channel, you didn’t have to wait for so many young people to enter the workplace.