Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help support people with endometriosis in the workplace in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.

Good work is good for health, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. Backed by £240 million investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched in November 2024 is driving forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity.

Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. The Government is committed to supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, including women with endometriosis, with their employment journey.

We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems. Existing measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care and WorkWell. WorkWell is part of Pathways to Work and will be rolled out across all of England backed by up to £259 million investment over three years. We are also rolling out Connect to Work, our supported employment programme for anyone who is disabled, has a health condition or is experiencing more complex barriers to work.

In November 2025, Sir Charlie Mayfield reported his Keep Britain Working Review, setting out recommendations to support employers to create healthier and more inclusive workplaces and radically reshape the way Government works with employers to improve outcomes. Following publication we have entered the Vanguard phase and, as part of this, we are partnering with Vanguard employers to test how we can better support good health in work, with a focus on women's health as part of this. Women’s health directly impacts economic participation, with health issues being the leading cause of lost working time for women. We have been inputting into the Women’s Health Strategy renewal to ensure women being in work is a positive health outcome. This includes a commitment to adopting a women’s health across the life course lens as part of the partnership with Vanguard employers in the Keep Britain Working Vanguard Phase.

The 10 Year Health Plan, published in July, builds on existing work to better integrate health with employment support and incentivise greater cross-system collaboration, recognising good work is good for health. The Plan states our intention to break down barriers to opportunity by delivering the holistic support that people need to access and thrive in employment by ensuring a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or service area. It outlines how the neighbourhood health service will join up support from across the work, health and skills systems to help address the multiple complex challenges that often stop people finding and staying in work.

Individuals unable to work due to endometriosis may be eligible to receive Statutory Sick Pay from their employer which, from April becomes payable from the first full day of sickness absence.