Department for Work and Pensions minister Lord McKenzie has announced a new vocational rehabilitation task group to help ill or injured people stay in or return to work.

The task group, which will be made up of government, customers, business and insurers, will identify what services are currently available, why businesses do not provide more support and what needs to be done to increase understanding and ensure wider provision of support services.

Lord McKenzie said: "Rehabilitation is not about forcing people back to work. Work, in fact, is often a crucial step in helping people return to full health. And businesses have much to gain in terms of reduced sickness absence, and improved staff engagement and retention.

"But very few employers offer occupational health or vocational rehabilitation. This task force will identify why this is the case, what barriers are preventing wider provision, and what needs to be done to change this.

"We cannot do this alone - employers must recognise that rehabilitation is not purely medical, but also a management activity, and they must do more to help their employees return to work."

The task group will publish a report assessing the current position later this year. Next year it will produce proposals for mechanisms, tool and incentives which encourage a wider take-up of occupational health and vocational rehabilitation services by employers, with supporting cost benefit analyses for their implementation.