Overview
- The Department for Work and Pensions has allocated up to £800,000 to fund IOSH Managing Occupational Health and Wellbeing training for SMEs across England.
- Pre‑registration runs until 31 December 2025 with full registration opening on 2 January 2026, and delivery scheduled between January and March by Reed Learning with International Workplace.
- The course trains managers to spot early warning signs such as persistent fatigue and behaviour changes, hold supportive conversations, make reasonable adjustments, and use occupational health referrals.
- Government materials highlight that only 21% of SMEs provide manager health and wellbeing training, 79% of those say it prevents ill health, and ill‑health costs include over £11,000 to replace a leaver and about £120 lost profit per sickness day.
- Commentators argue the pilot is too small to match the scale of long‑term sickness, pointing to coverage of only 5,000 managers and estimating the budget equates to roughly 29 pence per long‑term absentee.