2.8 million people are currently out of work in the UK because of long-term sickness, according to the Keep Britain Working Review from Sir Charlie Mayfield. That inactivity is costing the economy around £212 billion per year. To tackle these extraordinary figures, Sir Mayfield wants to explore the root cause of the problem, starting in the workplace. Turning to countries such as Finland, where employers offer health checks for new workers and for those who have had a long leave of absence, Sir Mayfield suggests the UK should follow suit and introduce ‘Health MOTs’ for employees as a preventative measure.
What a ‘Health MOT’ could look like
In practice, a Health MOT doesn't need to be a full medical exam. It could be as simple as a short conversation or questionnaire at onboarding and at key points afterwards such as a return from long-term leave, a role change, or a wellbeing check-in. The MOT could cover things like any adjustments needed to do the job safely and well, any known health conditions relevant to the role, and an open invitation to flag concerns before they become absences. The point isn't diagnosis; it's creating a regular conversation where health and barriers to work can be raised without it feeling like a crisis conversation. Done well, this could improve early support, break down existing barriers for those who need adjustments, reduce long-term absence, and improve retention.
The Jersey context
In Jersey, while the Island is not facing UK levels of economic inactivity, we are not immune to other workforce pressures including labour shortages, an ageing workforce, increased mental health awareness, rising levels of stress-related absences and difficulty recruiting replacement staff. These points raise the question: ‘Are we doing enough to identify health issues in the workforce before they become absence issues?’
Unfortunately, most Jersey organisations wait until an employee starts to struggle and their performance deteriorates, absence triggers are reached, or a grievance arises. Why do so many wait until this point? Usually, it’s the fear of hearing something they’re unsure of how to manage – this is especially true of mental health related issues. For some, it can be the worry about admin overload and the perceived mountain of paperwork that comes with absence. For others, it’s the concern that employees may start making unreasonable requests when it comes to reasonable adjustments.
The barriers
There’s a real argument for introducing ‘Health MOTs’ into the workplace in Jersey. It’s a reasonable thing to do - enabling reasonable adjustments to be made for those who need it and ultimately creating a more comfortable working environment.
However, we mustn’t discount the risks and challenges that come with these ‘Health MOTs’. Jersey employers would need to tread very carefully around issues such as data protection and discrimination.
To gather data about an employee’s health, employers would need explicit consent to store that data, have clear purposes for using that data, ensure robust confidentiality and strict control over who sees that data. Additionally, and arguably the biggest danger, would be using health information to influence recruitment decisions. Health data must be used as a supportive measure, not screen people out of a job. If used in such a way, employers could easily open themselves up to discrimination cases.
There’s also the cost of ‘Health MOTs’ that may be a barrier for many Jersey SMEs, some who may struggle to justify full occupational health assessments for every hire.
Where this is heading
Will Jersey adopt mandatory ‘Health MOTs’? I don’t think so – not in the near future anyway. But, with the conversations around workplace wellbeing growing exponentially, I do think we’ll see increased emphasis on occupational health support, wellbeing conversation, mental health awareness, return-to-work planning and stay-at-work strategies.
Indeed, I think the most important takeaway from Sir Mayfield’s Review is not the ‘Health MOT’, but the message that employers should stop seeing employee health as something that only becomes their concern once someone goes off sick.
What you need to know and what you could do
You don’t need a formal ‘Health MOT’ scheme to start acting on the principle behind it. The value lies in building a regular, low-stakes opportunity for health and adjustment conversations. Here are five things you can do, starting from today, to begin implementing change.
- Pick a natural moment to have the conversation
Onboarding, return from leave, a role change, or an annual check-in are all low-pressure points where a conversation fits without feeling like a big event. - Keep chats conversational, not clinical
A short, structured chat or questionnaire covering "is there anything about the role we should know?" and "is there anything we could do differently to support you?" is enough. - Set clear boundaries on the data
Decide upfront who sees what, how it's stored, how long you keep it, and get explicit consent before you gather anything. - Train your managers
The biggest barrier is usually confidence, not policy. Give line managers a simple framework for these conversations so they're not afraid of "getting it wrong". - Review your absence process
Ask whether your current approach only engages with health once someone is already off sick. If so, that's the gap to close first.
Get in touch if you'd like help designing what that looks like for your organisation.