Sadly, as the recent debate over the UK's so-called "sick-note culture" has highlighted, this is a rule which our society appears to break too often.

So in Inverness this week SCDI, in partnership with LifeScan Scotland, is hosting an event with NHS Highland chairman Garry Coutts to discuss how to create a healthy working culture.

The current waste of talent is frightening. After two years claiming Incapacity Benefit people are more likely to die or retire than work again. The annual cost of Incapacity Benefit in the UK is estimated at £12.5 billion — and there is no room for complacency in the Highlands.

Over 7.5 per cent of the workforce here receives the benefit.

This is well above the best performing UK regions and, if the chronic problems around Glasgow are stripped out, it is actually worse than the Scottish average.

Nor is the picture all that much healthier in the typical Scottish workplace where an average 8.1 days per employee each year are lost to sick leave.

If you consider that the average cost exceeds £1000 per person you can calculate the losses to the economy. Mental ill-health alone can cost UK businesses more than £9 billion annually Is there a remedy?

The UK Government has just unveiled a new disability test to get 20,000 people a year off sickness benefits and into work.

But it is too easy to think that little can be done locally. The "Unlock Your Potential" initiative — which brings together employers and health professionals in the Highlands to develop specialist training programmes for people on Incapacity Benefit — shows otherwise.

There is a need to be realistic about the support businesses can give to the long-term out of work — but perhaps more can be done.

Just as the NHS is devoting more resources to health improvement rather than simply treating symptoms, maybe businesses' greatest contribution can be in prevention.

Some already understand that the health of their workforce will be a major contributor to their performance. Companies such as Diageo have an absence rate of less than two per cent, compared with more than eight per cent for poorer performers.

When these differences are quantified, the potential for health improvement to drive competitive advantage is stark.

At the SCDI event Garry Coutts will say that while employers are managing their employees' absences, they should also be implementing measures to promote their wellness and the free support on offer from an adviser from NHS Highland.

Being in work heightens peoples' self-esteem, and boosts their quality of life and health.

It also prepares them for a better retirement, puts less strain on NHS resources and benefits society as a whole.

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