The training, delivered by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, will equip managers to identify warning signs such as persistent tiredness, behavioural shifts and rising absence rates.

Employment Minister Dame Diana Johnson defended the programme, stating: “Too often, small businesses lose skilled staff to health issues without the tools to support them – and that doesn’t help anyone. This free training changes that.”

The Keep Britain Working Review revealed that 800,000 additional working-age adults have left employment due to illness since 2019.

Business leaders have responded with scathing criticism of the initiative’s scope.

Rohit Parmar-Mistry, founder of Burton-on-Trent firm Pattrn Data, dismissed the programme as hopelessly inadequate given the scale of the problem.

“Let’s be honest: training 5,000 managers to tackle 2.8 million long-term sick is like emptying the ocean with a teaspoon. The maths simply doesn’t stack up,” he said.

Mr Parmar-Mistry accused ministers of effectively passing responsibility to already stretched SME managers, expecting them to serve as “amateur therapists while drowning in operational chaos.”

He argued the scheme fails entirely to address root causes keeping workers out of employment.

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“A manager can be trained to spot fatigue, but they can’t treat chronic illness, fix crumbling public healthcare infrastructure or reduce waiting lists,” he added.

Scott Gallacher, director at Leicester-based Rowley Turton, laid bare the arithmetic behind what he characterised as political theatre rather than substantive policy.

He noted that whilst the offer of free training is welcome, the scale falls woefully short of what is required.

“Funding just 5,000 line managers ignores the reality that 79% of SMEs provide no such training, across some 5.7 million UK businesses,” Mr Gallacher said.

The financial commitment works out to a mere 29 pence for each person currently absent from work due to long-term sickness.

“With 2.8 million people now long-term sick an increase of 800,000 since 2019 the £800,000 funding equates to roughly 29p per absentee. That suggests this initiative is little more than spin politics rather than policy,” he concluded.

Kate Underwood, founder of Southampton-based Kate Underwood HR and Training, questioned the initiative’s practical value.

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She acknowledged that teaching managers to recognise early warning signs and conduct proper conversations represents a genuine improvement.

“Most SMEs don’t lose people because they don’t care they lose them because managers panic, avoid it or act too late,” she observed.

However, Ms Underwood cautioned against overstating the programme’s potential impact.

“But let’s not kid ourselves: training doesn’t solve the real pain points. The cost of absence, the time to manage it, and getting quick occupational health advice are what sink small teams,” she said.

The true burden on smaller firms, she argued, lies in sick pay obligations and implementing reasonable workplace adjustments.

Riz Malik, director at Southend-on-Sea wealth management firm R3 Wealth, questioned whether ministers understood the priorities of British businesses.

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“It’s fantastic the Government has launched an initiative that probably isn’t on the Top 100 list of things SMEs would like from the Government going into 2026. Another initiative from a deluded Government who have no idea about the concerns of many SMEs,” he said.

Sarah Gatford of Derby-based Sarah Gatford Ltd suggested the programme could prove beneficial if it fostered genuine human connection rather than box-ticking exercises.

She noted that 5,000 managers across England’s entire SME sector “feels like a drop in the ocean.”

Mr Parmar-Mistry called for fundamental investment in healthcare systems and sustainable working practices rather than what he described as “a PowerPoint presentation on how to spot a crisis.”