Council for Work & Health

Royal Assent granted to the Employment Rights Act 2025

19th December 2025

The Council for Work and Health welcomes Royal Assent being granted to the Employment Rights Act 2025. The recognition of the importance of employment practices on the health of workers is a theme of the legislation, including day one entitlement to statutory sick pay, statutory duties in relation to menopause action plans and more measures to enable work-life balance. The potential of the newly-established Fair Work Agency to bring considerations of health support into its remit has been trailed by the Mayfield Report. This raises the prospect of disputes relating to standards of health support, disability and critical issues like menopause support being underpinned by the Agency, rather than requiring resort to Employment Tribunals. Such a development is also welcome.

The Council membership are working hard to ensure that workers can continue to access professional and clinically-led advice to enable employees to make judgements about the impact of work on their own health. This is in addition to the work of many of its members to ensure that employers are guided by good practice in health protection. In the New Year, the Council will be moving ahead with professionally-led standards to underpin the professions who are the mainstay of healthy work in this country.”

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) position statement

18th December 2025
Please see below the MHFA position statement agreed with Council Chair, Kevin Bampton, and the two Chairs of the Council Mental Health Subgroup, Nicola Neath and Abigail Hirshman.

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) has become a widely adopted term for a variety of workplace activities which have the support of workers experiencing mental health issues at their focus. At present there is no benchmark or regulation for the interventions or practitioners supporting them. 

People experiencing mental health problems may be vulnerable and therefore at risk if well-intentioned initiatives are not properly planned and executed. In addition, employers owe a duty of care to their employees in relation to mental health problems caused by work and in relation to ensuring the quality and appropriateness of any interventions provided by the workplace. 

Service providers also have a duty under section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 not to provide a service which could cause harm to health. 

The Council for Work and Health welcomes the efforts of MHFA England to create and set standards for improving the implementation of MHFA in those organisation that may wish to use MHFA. Various Council member organisations responded directly to the call to gather information that may better inform these standards.

The Council position is not to provide a separate detailed response. It recognises MHFA is one of a number of different interventions that organisations and business may pay for to support the mental health of its employees.

Drawing upon both the evidence and extensive experience of its members, the Council believes that the management of mental health at work should consider a broad spectrum of initiatives and interventions. These include preventative measures addressing and responding to the sources of stress at work, training and psychoeducation for line managers and staff, inclusive policies and practices from recruitment and retirement; and a range of support when people are unwell including occupational health and access to counselling using skilled and qualified practitioners.

SOM response to Keep Britain Working Final Report

5th November 2025

SOM response to Keep Britain Working final report:

Too many employees leave jobs unnecessarily as their employers do not have access to expert work and health advice. The new Mayfield review offers a solution to keeping people with health issues in work and is one the occupational health community is ready to make a reality. Investing in employee health is not just a moral imperative, it is an economic necessity. Without such investment, both sickness absence and poor performance increases. This costs the economy billions and reduces profitability. An effective approach to good workplace health requires experts in work and health.

It is important that the Mayfield’s recommendations are turned into practical action, creating workplaces where employees remain productive, even when they face health challenges.   Work and health experts from the occupational health profession are critical to this, offering independent, expert guidance for employees to stay in work, and return to work if they have a health issue. Helping people remain in good work is a win-win-win situation for employers, employees and for the nation.

 SOM’s view is it needs to be more focused on occupational health (OH), with OH as the centerpiece of delivery, covering clinical stewardship, competency in risk management  and evidence based using Professional guidelines that support dealing with challenging elements including confidentiality breaches etc. We need a clinical channel where dots are joined between health and work for more complex clinical cases.

Nick Pahl | CEO
SOM

Council for Work and Health response to Keeping Britain Working: Final Report (5 November 2025)

5th November 2025

Keeping Britain Working:  Final Report (published 5 November 2025)

The Council for Work and Health welcomes the focus provided by the Keep Britain Working Review on the increasing problem for the UK economy relating to work and ill-health. The Board is sure the Council’s members will welcome many of its recommendations, including more coordination within Government, the need for a better evidence base, and the need to raise standards. At the heart of the report, the need to “humanize” the workplace is at the centre of our challenge. Technology opens the opportunity for processes to be designed about the physical and mental limitations of human beings and to reduce risks within the workplace that can harm health and to maximise the opportunities to support health improvement. At the heart of the delivery of this promise needs to be the bodies who comprise the membership of the Council for Work and Health, ranging from occupational health specialists, to expert bodies in ensuring that workplace relations are managed effectively. The Council will continue to be the convening body for those organisations who share commitment. The Council will play its part in ensuring that Government is well-informed and independently guided by the voices of those who have the deepest understanding of the problems and the solutions needed to give flesh to the bones of this Report.
Kevin Bampton
Chair
Council for Work and Health

  It's simply not enough to keep on talking about mental health at work. When life events knock us off course, employees need access to timely professional psychological support and counselling to heal, recover and make a successful return to work  

Nicola Banning BACP Workplace