The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence is briefing local authorities on measures to improve workplace health.
In its online guide, NICE has urged employers to address specific, work-related conditions such as musculoskeletal disorders and stress and encouraged the promotion of flexible working as a means of improving job satisfaction.
It also emphasised the importance of creating a culture of healthy eating through offering staff affordable and healthy choices in canteens and vending machines.
The guide sets out a business case for promoting mental wellbeing at work, citing NICE estimates that mental health issues cost UK employers almost £1m a year.
Identifying problems earlier, it suggested, could cut costs by nearly a third.
NICE Director of the Centre for Public Health Excellence Professor Mike Kelly said: "NICE public health guidance sets out what works best to keep communities healthy - actions which also often save money both in the short and long-term.
"By tackling health at work, local authorities can help reduce sickness absence and improve employee wellbeing, both of which contribute to boosting the local economy.
"Local authorities can improve workplace health in two ways - in their own role as an employer, and also by encouraging and helping other employers to improve the health of their employees.
"The workplace health briefing also gives examples of good practice and quick facts and figures to make a case for action," he added.
The NICE guide follows the publishing of one from the NHS specifically highlighting the importance of workplace mental health.
