Asli Atay

Two hundred UK companies sign up for permanent four-day working week More than 5,000 workers to benefit from reduced hours with no loss of pay

Two hundred UK companies have signed up for a permanent four-day working week for all their employees with no loss of pay.

www.theguardian.com/money/2025/j...

DWP blocked researchers from discussing ‘shocking’ data on ESA suicide attempts in ‘unique’ report Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) civil servants who commissioned a key piece of research on claimants of out-of-work disability benefits blocked researchers from discussing “shocking” data sh…

Notably, employer behaviour is in scope for the independent review, but not, in the discovery phase, behaviours by DWP staff or contractors, or benefit system and its administration. The limitation of scope, unfortunately, reminds me of: www.disabilitynewsservice.com/dwp-blocked-...

Keep Britain Working: Terms of Reference

The terms of reference www.gov.uk/government/p... are interesting.

Ex-high street chief to keep Britain working with review into business support for disabled and long-term sick A new “Keep Britain Working” review has been launched today [Friday 24 January] to explore how to urgently support people with long-term illnesses or disabilities back into work, and to stay in work.

Mayfield review is launched!
www.gov.uk/government/n...

The Health Foundation has published new analysis on mental health trends among working age people and invited me to share some thoughts. Taking a more holistic approach to understanding capacity for work seems to be at the heart of it: www.health.org.uk/features-and...

Trump orders federal workers back to office full-time President Donald Trump has ordered federal workers to return to the office five days a week, signing an executive order in front of cheering supporters at Washington's Capital One Arena on Monday.

The debate over remote work shows no signs of slowing down. Trump orders federal workers back to the office full-time.

www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...

Tony Blair’s ‘Tougher’ Message Misses the Real Crisis: Bad Jobs and Mental Health Workplace Mental Health Starts with Autonomy and Flexibility in Job Design

New Substack is out! In my latest post, I explore why Blair’s call to avoid "medicalising the ups and downs of life" risks missing the bigger picture: the systemic mental health crisis in our workplaces and its connection to bad jobs. Let me know what you think!

open.substack.com/pub/asliatay...

Tony Blair’s ‘Tougher’ Message Misses the Real Crisis: Bad Jobs and Mental Health Workplace Mental Health Starts with Autonomy and Flexibility in Job Design

New Substack is out! In my latest post, I explore why Blair’s call to avoid "medicalising the ups and downs of life" risks missing the bigger picture: the systemic mental health crisis in our workplaces and its connection to bad jobs. Let me know what you think!

open.substack.com/pub/asliatay...

I’m at the launch of the Digital Dialogues report at Tech UK. The findings reveal that technology is augmenting and complementing work but also highlight challenges for workers, including new skill demands, risks of work intensification, and digital surveillance.

This was brutal 🙈 #universitychallenge

However, we also find that employers are struggling to respond. More than three in five employers (65%) acknowledge the value of occupational health services, but only 37% provide these services. In addition, less than half of employers (48%) offer flexible working arrangements.

.@asliatay.bsky.social continues that the first year after illness is pivotal – 4.2% of workers leave their jobs within the first year of a health setback. Findings also include that employees are four times more likely to leave their job if they lack flexibility following a health setback.

Figure showing the change in economic inactivity due to long-term sickness in the UK, for people aged 16 to 64 years old, thousands.

.@asliatay.bsky.social shares that, since the pandemic, 2.78 million people have left the workforce due to long-term health conditions. This has far-reaching consequences – not just for individuals but also for employers and the welfare system.

We're about to start our webinar on Healthier Jobs to Tackle Economic Inactivity. Join us to explore how we can better support people with ill health to stay in work!

Stemming the tide: Healthier jobs to tackle economic inactivity Join the Work Foundation to explore new research.

EVENT: Join us on Thurs to explore our research on healthier jobs to tackle economic inactivity, with @asliatay.bsky.social, Nick Pahl @somceo.bsky.social & Prof Stavroula Leka, expert in workforce health

We have 100+ sign ups already, looking forward to it
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/stemming-t...

UK teachers should be allowed to work from home, education secretary says Bridget Phillipson insists move to marking and class preparation out of school would help stem retention crisis

"A recent Working Lives of Teachers and Leaders survey shows a big jump in respondents citing the lack of flexible working opportunities as a reason for considering leaving the state education sector in the next 12 months – up from 34% in 2023 to 47% in 2024."
www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Why can’t more than 800,000 job vacancies be filled? There are four times as many people potentially able to work as there are jobs

Great to see our finding in @thetimes.com today - that half the people who leave employment due to illness do so in the first year following their decline in health. This is a critical period, requiring good sick pay, leave and adjustments
www.thetimes.com/article/why-...

Beyond the numbers: How the Government can reconnect growth with people's lives From abstract metrics to tangible change

🔈 New Substack: Hearing on the news that GDP is declining can feel abstract to many of us. I’ve been thinking about how we can make growth feel more real, so I wrote a blog exploring this, drawing on recent events, reports, and policy discussions.

open.substack.com/pub/asliatay...

Labour's quiet plan to 'keep Britain working' could change lives Healthier workplaces are an investment in time and resource that benefits their bottom line and the health of our society.

I wrote for @bigissue.com about why workplace health should be at the heart of efforts to grow our economy, sharing insights from our research.

www.bigissue.com/opinion/labo...

Tokyo plans 4-day working week to boost births World’s largest city begins radical experiment as it tries to tackle demographic crisis

"The Tokyo Metropolitan Government will allow its staff to work a four-day week as authorities in the world’s largest city begin a radical experiment to reverse Japan’s low birth rate."
www.ft.com/content/7cc7...

Great to see this report from the Work Foundation. Interesting findings on how important access to flexible working is for enabling people with health conditions stay in work.

Because the policy focus has been on benefits, there has been little/no recognition that people may have been on contractual sick pay for quite a long time. This is mainly a big company thing, but given 90% plus employers are tiny, the % of employment from medium/large employers is high.

Thanks, @iainkporter.bsky.social!

Great research/thread @asliatay.bsky.social of Work Foundation. Chimes with @jrf-uk.bsky.social/Scope report that the most significant barriers holding disabled people back from work include inaccessible, inflexible jobs lacking health-related adaptations and support: www.jrf.org.uk/work/unlocki...

Sick workers without job flexibility four times more likely to leave Research shows people without flexibility in their jobs are four times more likely to leave work following a decline in health.

Really interesting and important study by the Work Foundation demonstrating how important flex is to keeping people in work
www.personneltoday.com/hr/sick-work...

This speaks to today's report from the Work Foundation exploring the linkages between job quality and ill health (link below), as well as our findings for the @irhws.bsky.social project about the need for inclusive flexible working models to retain people with disabilities/ill health in employment.

UK: European outlier as it does not place legal requirements on employers to provide occupational health (OH) services to their workers. 45% of workers have access to OH.

Germany, Denmark, Netherlands...: mandate employers provide OH. Near universal coverage.
(4/7)

The UK has near record levels of economic inactivity due to ill-health and is the only G7 nation with a smaller workforce than before the pandemic

Our new report examines approaches taken by other nations to support healthy work and the overall health of their working age populations

A thread...

This is a great piece of work from our friends at the Work Foundation.

Aside from lots on the risk factors for leaving the labour market, it very helpfully sets out a framework for policy intervention - from healthier workplaces to better ways of managing absence and work returns ⬇️

A Reuters article titled "More flexibility can keep sick UK employees in work, report says" by David Milliken, published on December 5, 2024. Below the headline is an image of people walking across London Bridge with Tower Bridge in the background, located in the City of London financial district. The caption reads: "People walk over London Bridge looking at a view of Tower Bridge in the City of London financial district in London, Britain, October 25, 2023. REUTERS/Susannah Ireland/File Photo."

It’s fantastic to see our findings gaining traction, including coverage in Forbes and beyond.

You can find it here:
www.lancaster.ac.uk/media/lancas...

@rebeccaflorisson.bsky.social @alicepmartin.bsky.social @gdwilliams9.bsky.social