Keep Britain Working: What advisers need to know

Matt Smith, Rehabilitation Manager, Group Protection at Aviva, reflects on how the government’s Keep Britain Working Review signals a shift in how workplace health is delivered and why these changes matter for advisers supporting employer clients.

Published: 08 May 2026 5 mins read

The UK government’s Keep Britain Working Review, published in November 2025, introduces important proposals for the future of workplace health and protection.

Rising levels of long-term sickness or health problems mean more people are unable to work, creating challenges for employers and the wider economy. What makes this review different is the government’s commitment to work with employers and insurers to find real solutions.

For financial advisers who support businesses with group protection, these developments will soon play a role in client conversations. Aviva has been involved from the outset.

Here’s a clear summary of what is changing, why it matters, and how it could shape your advice.

What’s driving this agenda?

The scale of the challenge is clear, government analysis¹ shows:

One in five working-age adults in the UK cannot work because of health problems – this is 800,000 more people than in 2019.
Ill health costs the UK economy about 7% of its total value, nearly equal to 70% of income tax collected by the government.
Employers lose around £85 billion a year to sickness absence, leaving the workforce, and reduced productivity.

To respond to this, the government is working with over 120 “Vanguard” employers including Aviva, that are committed to provide evidence on best-practise used to inform new workplace health standards and certification.

What advisers need to know

1. Workplace health provision (WHP) will become the new norm

The review suggests that most employers should use a workplace health provision model in the future. The envisaged WHP would have key 3 elements:

Supporting employers with prevention
Early intervention and treatment pathways
Return to work and stay in work plans and support

The above are already key parts of existing PMI and Group Income Protection services. As the WHP model is developed and providers evolve their products and services, advisers will retain a key role in explaining how they work and helping businesses put them into practice.

2. Growing demand for prevention-led support

The government wants to focus on preventing health problems before they get worse. This fits well with the services in GIP and PMI, such as:

Support for mental health
Physiotherapy for common MSK issues
Digital health tools

These services are becoming very important for employers who want to look after their workers’ health.

Advisers can use these to show clients the value of these services.

3. More focus on data sharing and outcomes reporting

Vanguard organisations will work with the newly set-up Workplace Health Intelligence Unit (“WHIU”) to share data about sickness absence and returning to work. However, it will take up to a year for the data-sharing arrangements to be agreed. The evidence will be used to support the development of the WHP model and Healthy Working Lifecycle (a new workplace health standard).

Advisers will need to follow these developments closely so they can help clients understand them and apply them effectively.

4. A voluntary workplace health standard is planned “The Healthy Working Lifecycle”

The Healthy Working Lifecycle is the name of the new workplace health standard that is planned. It is intended this sets out the type of support employers should be providing employees in each stage of the lifecycle (i.e. offering preventative support, offering adjustments to help stay in work).

Employers who want to keep up with their competitors will want to match this new government standard as it develops. Advisers can help by:

Helping employers to map out how their current benefits (including PMI and GIP) help meet the requirements
Finding any gaps and providing recommendations on how to fill them

Implications for adviser-client conversations

The adviser’s role is changing from just arranging benefits to being a key partner in making sure the employer can meet the best practise standards envisaged in the Keep Britain Working Review. You can support clients by:

Encouraging prevention-first plans that will fit with the new national Healthy Working Lifecycle (workplace health standard)
Explaining how insurer rehabilitation services support the requirements around return-to-work support
Giving advice on how to measure the effectiveness of products and services against best practice highlighted in the Keep Britain working review

Employers understand they must act - workplace health is now essential to the UK’s economic future.

Aviva’s role in the Keep Britain Working Review

Aviva has contributed actively sharing our experience in early intervention, prevention and supporting our clients to get their employees back to work following ill-health absence.

Prevention, early intervention and treatment, and rehabilitation have always been important in our Group Income Protection (GIP) and Private Medical Insurance (PMI) products. So, we have a proven way to help.

Final thoughts

The Keep Britain Working Review highlights insurer-led approaches like case management and return to work plans as best practise. This is a great chance for advisers to lead the conversation with clients and to position the direction of travel on the healthy working lifecycle and how insurance services are aligned.