Research has found that only two in five (40 percent) employers offer their staff support for physical health if they are injured or have a new illness or disability.
Among employers that do offer this kind of support, employees can have access to private treatment, vocational rehabilitation or other similar medical services.
The survey, conducted by Opinium with 500 HR decision-makers on behalf of Grid, showed that 38 percent of employers provide support for mental health, such as mental health first aiders, an employee assistance programme (EAP), and counselling.
The same proportion (38 percent) offer social health support that ensures employees are included in work events, and 36 percent said they provide support for financial health, which can provide advice on budgeting, discount vouchers or pay advances.
Low support
Katharine Moxham, Grid spokesperson, said: “While it is good to see employers thinking broadly about their staff in these situations across the four main pillars of physical, mental, social and financial support, these figures are low.
“We would like to see more employers prepared to support their workforce through these difficult times.”
The research showed that among the employers which provided support when staff are incapacitated, a third (33 percent) said that they felt the support for physical health was the most helpful.
This was followed by support for mental health (31 percent) and financial health (29 percent).
Case by case
Research results also showed that 41 percent of employers fund employee support for injury or new illness/disability on a case-by-case basis.
However, Grid said that this approach can be expensive if it is to provide sufficient depth and breadth of support, as well as being difficult to budget for as no employer will have the same number of cases year on year.
Grid also said that this method of funding was “not egalitarian” and emphasised that employers need to ensure that all employees receive the same approach or the employer could face claims of discrimination or inequality.
Clinical knowledge
Providing support on a case-by-case basis also means that employers need to fully understand a condition to be able to provide the correct treatment, Grid explained.
Employers without this level of clinical expertise could waste their budget and/or delay positive outcomes for the employee.
However, employers that offer benefits such as group income protection (GIP) will find that they are well-equipped to deal with staff in these situations, the industry body said.
Moxham added: “We would encourage more employers to investigate how GIP has helped other companies and how it could support theirs. It does of course give financial assurance but also a great deal of preventative and rehabilitation support too.”
GIP tools
Paula Coffey, director of claims, rehabilitation and medical services at Unum UK, said that GIP was “more than just a financial payment to prevent the impact of long-term absence and paying claims — it can also offer valuable health and wellbeing tools which can benefit both employers, and employees”.
She added: “This includes help for employees to stay in work or return to work after a period of sickness absence. Unum achieved a 97 percent return to work success rate for individuals supported by its GIP rehabilitation service in 2023.”
Coffey said that as every business is unique, with an individual mix of employees and potential risks from illness, injury and long-term sickness absence, a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work.
But, she added, funding support on a case-by-case basis is time consuming and more costly and may still not result in the positive outcome for the employee and employer.
“Within a GIP policy, individuals can get access to medical specialists with a wide range of knowledge of diverse illnesses and injuries, able to offer that valuable expertise and proven support to an employee in need.
“A GIP provider can also help create a graduated return to work plan that’s personalised to the individual and their circumstances. This approach can reduce recurring absences, where employees aren’t quite ready to return to work and their symptoms recur with a subsequent relapse into absence. The true goal is not just getting employees back to work; it’s ensuring they can remain well enough to stay in work, with all the support they need to do so.”
