ONS sickness absence figures prompt calls for “real intervention” from employers 

New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showing 148.8 million working days were lost to sickness or injury across the UK workforce in 2025 have prompted fresh warnings that too many employers are still relying on “tick-box wellbeing” approaches rather than meaningful intervention. 

The data, released on 1 May, equates to 4.4 days lost per worker and arrives as organisations continue to face rising pressure around absence costs, productivity and workforce retention. 

Responding to the figures, Verve Healthcare said many employers are investing in health assessments and wellbeing initiatives that identify issues but fail to provide employees with practical routes to support or treatment. 

Steven Pink, CEO of Verve Healthcare, said employers had become “very good at measuring workforce health problems and surprisingly poor at treating them”. 

“If an employee is identified as struggling with stress, burnout, musculoskeletal issues or early-stage health concerns, they shouldn’t be left to navigate the system alone,” he said. 

“A health assessment without a pathway to treatment is not preventative healthcare.” 

The comments reflect a wider shift taking place across the workplace wellbeing sector, where growing attention is being placed on intervention, clinical access and practical support rather than engagement metrics or benefit provision alone. 

Verve Healthcare argued employers should move investment away from “passive wellbeing initiatives” and towards approaches that provide employees with clearer next steps once a health concern is identified. This includes access to clinical guidance, onward referrals, follow-up support and treatment pathways designed to prevent short-term issues escalating into longer-term absence. 

While the latest figures remain high, the company suggested the stabilisation of sickness absence rates compared with 2024 may offer employers an opportunity to rethink strategy before costs rise further. 

“The numbers are high, but they’re not hopeless,” Pink said. 

“We know what drives absence. We know what interventions work. What’s missing is the willingness to stop treating wellbeing as a reporting exercise and start treating it as a business-critical intervention.” 

The intervention warning lands amid broader debate across UK workplace health around whether employers are measuring wellbeing activity more effectively than they are improving workforce health outcomes. 

Pink added: “The latest ONS figures show the scale of the problem facing UK employers. Organisations failing to intervene early are paying for poor workforce health through higher absence, lower productivity and increased staff turnover. 

“Businesses can’t afford another five years of wellbeing programmes that identify problems without solving them. The future of employee health is about helping people get better, faster.”