Health and employment is a key priority for the LHC; it launched the London Works for Better Health programme in 2003 (initially with sponsorship from the King's Fund, now funded by the London Development Agency) with three fundamental and ambitious aims:

• promote healthy employment in London
• improve health and reduce health inequalities in London through work and enterprise
• gather and disseminate intelligence on work/health related research and activities
  

This page contains:

• Good jobs - good for health and good for business
• News
• Terms of reference and steering group members
• Previous work
• Further information and contact details

Good jobs - good for health and good for business

A series of business breakfasts for bosses in London

• Hear how prominent London employers have developed good jobs to the benefit of their employees and their bottom line
• Find out how you can translate this into practical action within your own business, whatever its size.
• Help us to understand the challenges and opportunities you face and be part of shaping the next stage of the London Works employer campaign

Facilitated by

These events run from 8am - 10am and are FREE

Programme for all events:
8.00am Breakfast and networking
8.30am Welcome from Barry Francis on behalf of London Works
8.40am Presentation from host
9.00am Q &A and discussion
9.45am Networking
10.00am Close

If you'd like to attend, please complete the booking form or contact charlotte.hall@london.gov.uk

Click on the logos to download a pdf flyer for each event.

Monday 24th November 2008, 8.00am - 10.00am
Occupational Health, Townsend House, Greycoat Place, London, SW1P 1BL
Map
booking form

Since 2002 Tate & Lyle has reduced long-term sickness absence by 60% and ill-health early retirement by 75%. By making some simple adjustments to working arrangements it has enabled employees to return to work more quickly and safely, improving their mental and physical health and saving the business money.

Wednesday 10th December 2008, 8.00am - 10.00am
Thames Refinery, Factory Road, Silvertown, London, E16 2EW
Map and directions
booking form

Six years ago Royal Mail Group had the worst strike record in the country, accounting for 50% of all industrial action in the UK. 16% of the workforce had experienced bullying and harassment in the previous 12 months. Now, following a range of projects to address emotional well-being, workplace design and employee support, it has seen a huge increase in morale and sick absence has reduced by 25% between January 2004 and May 2007, resulting in direct cost savings of £227 million.

Tuesday 20th January 2009, 8.00am - 10.00am
Royal Mail Group HQ, Rowland Hill Suite, 148 Old Street, London EC1V 9HQ
Map
booking form

Involving employees of all grades in business planning is vital to Pizza Express' success. Its regular "board round tables" for restaurant staff, innovative career development programmes and flexible working arrangements have resulted in a level of staff loyalty which is unusual for the industry: it's not uncommon to meet a member of staff who has worked for the company for 20 years.

Tuesday 10th February 2009, 8am - 10am
Pizza Express 7-9 Charlotte Street, London, W1T 1RB
Map
booking form

More events are being planned and will be posted shortly.

If you are unable to attend but are interested in the findings and forthcoming events please contact charlotte.hall@london.gov.uk

Latest news

London Works launches new campaign
"Good jobs - Good for health and good for business"

On Monday 6th October 2008, London Works hosted the National Employment and Health Network (NEHIN). Over 120 delegates from London and across the country attended the network meeting and heard Barry Francis launch the campaign.

Barry Francis, Partner, Pinsent Masons and Chair of the London Works steering group welcomed people to City Hall and launched the London Works "Good jobs: good for health and good for business campaign".

The campaign will promote awareness amonst business leaders of the business benefits of healthier jobs and healthier workplaces.

Barry said, "It is now widely recognised that good work is good for health. What is less well known is that good jobs make businesses more productive, efficient and competitive. Our campaign will demonstrate the business case for good health at work to London's employers. We want to show how simple measures can make a big difference and challenge the misconception that making work healthier is expensive and a drain on business".

The campaign starts with a series of breakfast events for senior business people. Each will be hosted by a prominent London organisation who will describe how their business has benefited from taking action on workplace health..

These business breakfasts will:

• Raise awareness amongst employers that good jobs/workplaces are good for business and to highlight practical ways in which employers can achieve this.
• Gather intelligence from a range of employers about the main issues they are facing in their workplaces, their views on developing healthier workplaces, the type of support they might need to do this and the most effective way of selling this message to other employers.
• Challenge assumptions amongst employers about the obstacles to developing a healthy workplace.
• Build a network of employers committed to developing good jobs/workplaces.

These events will ensure that our campaign is informed directly by business.

London Works hosts NEHIN Conference 6 October 2008

The aims of the 6th October conference were:

• To update on developments in Health, Work and Wellbeing nationally and in particular policies and programmes that impact on businesses and individuals in London; and
• To look at examples of innovation health at work in and around London

Dr Su Wang, Royal Mail Group, a member of London Works, and Professor David Marsden, London School of Economics presented the findings of research into Royal Mail Group's innovative work to manage health at work that aved the group up to £227 million between 2004 and 2007.

The conference then split into workshops covering good practice from all over London.
View the programme. Presentations and a write up of the event will be available on the NEHIN website soon.

New Chair for London Works for Better Health Steering Group

On 22 September 2008 Barry Francis, Partner at law firm Pinsent Masons took up the Chair of the London Works steering group.

Barry heads the health sector of Pinsent Masons, the international law firm. He has worked in healthcare for some 20 years.

He advises on healthcare matters in the UK, Asia and Northern Europe and has a wide interest in health policy and public health.

London Skills and Employment Board Strategy - London Works responds

Headline points:

• We should like to see a greater emphasis on the importance of “good” jobs and healthy workplaces in the strategy.
• We should like to see a greater emphasis on supporting people with mental health conditions into work and in the workplace.
• We want to share our experiences and future work programme around disabled people and employment with the Board and work with them
• We should like to see a greater emphasis on primary care as a key partner with other agencies in helping patients experiencing ill-health and/or disability into employment.
• We should like to see clear references to the Health Inequalities Strategy’s priorities and actions within the Skills and Employment Strategy as both strategies and their respective implementation plans develop.
• London Health Commission would like to work with the Board on the development of the Strategy’s implementation plan and to support them in assessing its health impact. You can read the full response on our web site.

Download the full response - 141 (kb) RTF document

Find out more about the London Skills and Employment Board

Download steering group's terms of reference as a Word document

Examples of previous work

• High profile seminar series run jointly between the LHC and the Work Foundation entitled "Working for Health and Well-being", bringing together employers from all sectors, policy-makers and trade unions. Central to discussions were two questions: "what can employers do to make work healthy?" and "what can policy-makers do to support this?"
• Securing funding from European Social Fund to deliver "Making Health Work for Business", a series of pilot projects exploring good practice in health and job retention in small and medium sized enterprises
• Development of Sustainable Local Economies for Health Project (SLEHP), a tool to help businesses and planners to be effective in recruitment and retention of a local and diverse workforce, improve workplace health and consider the environmental footprint of business, public transport and green planning

Click here for a summary of previous London Works projects

For further information, contact:

London Works for Better Health
Charlotte Hall, Programme Manager
Tel: 020 7983 4651
Email: charlotte.hall@london.gov.uk