Are you an employer of 2 to 249 people? Do you want to protect your profits?

For the 5.7 million small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) in the UK, long-term workplace sickness is not just a HR issue, but a direct threat to the bottom line. On average, every single day of sickness costs an SME around £120. If that absence leads to the employee leaving the business, the cost of replacement can skyrocket to £11,000 as emphasized by the Keep Britain Working Report published by the Department for Work & Pensions on 05 November 2025. 

Mental health is currently the leading cause of long-term sickness in the UK. The latest Keep Britain Working report sets outs that while 76% of large corporations have dedicated Occupational Health training for their managers, only 21% of SMEs have the same. This often leads to small business owners and managers feeling ill equipped to spot and handle the issues that hit their productivity the hardest. Research shows that line managers hesitate to even start a conversation with the employees due to fear of saying the wrong thing which may cause offense, trigger grievances or even escalate to a tribunal. 

This is where the new “Let’s Crack On” initiative steps in. This is a programme launched by the Department for Work & Pensions and led by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health to provide free Managing Occupational Health and Wellbeing training to SMEs. The training aims to ensure their owners and line managers are equipped with the necessary tools to identify health issues early on and offer the necessary support. 

The training will teach managers how to have constructive wellbeing conversations with employees to create a healthier and more inclusive environment in the workplace. This in turn will help keep employees connected to the rest of the team to prevent that detachment that makes return to work much more difficult after prolonged absences. 

The course is available until 31 March 2026 and is free of charge for the first 5,000 SMEs signing up on a first come, first served basis via the website below:

lets-crack-on.com

Recognising that employee wellbeing is critical is not just about being nice. It is about building a business that does not let profit (and employees) slip through the cracks!

For more information and/or advice on managing employees’ health issues or absence, please contact either Philomena Price at pprice@se-solicitors.co.uk or Carol Shaw at cshaw@se-solicitors.co.uk, Employment Law Directors at SE-Solicitors. 

The content of this article is a general guide only at the date of publication. It is not comprehensive, and it does not constitute legal advice. Specific legal advice should be sought in relation to the particular facts of a given situation.