Employment: Neurodiversity

Sir Charlie Mayfield’s independent Keep Britain Working Review, published on 5 November 2025, highlighted the scale of the problem of people falling out of work for reasons of ill-health and disability, and the vital role employers can play in addressing this. The Review identified structural challenges for disabled people and people with learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, creating barriers to starting and staying in work, and proposed reforms to create healthier, more inclusive workplaces.

The Review was not condition specific but takes a needs-based approach, focussed on the wider structural and health related barriers that prevent disabled people and those with physical and mental health conditions from entering or staying in work. This includes development of good practice and outcomes for creating thriving, healthy workplaces, to be developed into a robust, recognised standard; creating effective, employer-facing Workplace Health Provision; and driving adoption through evidence and incentives.

The Workplace Health Intelligence Unit is in its design phase. We are working with Vanguard employers to better define the data we think will underpin the new system, and how it can be collected. This will then be built into the design of the WHIU, so that it can provide an effective baseline for employers looking to improve their return-to-work process and results, reduce their sickness absence and achieve greater inclusion of disabled people and people with learning disabilities.