The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has announced it is challenging employers to promote staff well-being through "good work".
It stated that workplace managers should not only prevent their employees from becoming ill, but should also actively promote positive health and well-being.
The comments come after the release of the TUC’s In Sickness and in Health? report, which reveals one-third of the waking hours in the average Briton’s life are spent at work.
As a result, a person’s employment comes to define who they are, how well they live and even their life expectancy, it claims.
Reputable employers may already have risk assessments in place to help prevent workers falling ill or being injured as a result of their jobs, while absence management policies help support those who are sick, but the TUC says more could be done.
General secretary of the group Brendan Barber said: "Every year, around 170 million working days are lost in the UK because people are too ill to go to work and the cost of this sickness absence runs into tens of billions of pounds."
Meanwhile, the TUC recently warned that the recession should not be used as an excuse for employers to initiate pay cuts, which could also have a negative impact on staff well-being.
Posted by Hayley Edwards