“Stark” figures show that more than 3 million employees do not have workplace support for any of the four pillars of health and wellbeing.
Research with 500 HR decision makers in the UK found that nearly one in ten (9 percent) employers do not offer support for any of the four pillars, which include mental, physical, social and financial health.
With 33.86 million people currently employed in the UK, this suggests that more than 3 million employees receive no employer support for health and wellbeing, according to the research conducted on behalf of Towergate Employee Benefits.
The research also revealed that many employers are missing the mark when it comes to supporting all four of the pillars.
Just over half of employers provide support for mental (54 percent) and social health (52 percent), while less than half offer employees support for physical (44 percent) or financial health (43 percent).
This lack of support is surprising as employee mental health is the biggest concern for employers, highlighted by 51 percent of respondents. The physical health of employees is a concern for 49 percent of employers, while 46 percent reported concerns about their employees’ financial health. The social health of employees was a concern for 33 percent of employers, while 10 percent of employers said they had no concerns for the health and wellbeing of their workforce.
The provider said that if employer support is lacking in even one of the four pillars all four can be negatively affected.
Researchers also highlighted “significant differences” in employee support depending on the size of the company. For all four of the pillars, companies with 20 or fewer employees were least likely to provide support, while large corporate firms with 250 plus employees were most likely to provide support.
For mental health and wellbeing, large corporate employers were almost twice as likely to provide support as companies with 20 or fewer employees.
“With so much readily available and affordable support for employers to offer across the four pillars of health and wellbeing (physical, mental, financial and social health) it is hard to understand why so many employers are falling short in making sure their workforce is fully supported,” said Debra Clark, head of wellbeing at Towergate Employee Benefits.
“If employees feel supported, this will benefit the company too – in increased motivation, less absence and higher productivity – so it’s an area that no business, of any size, can afford to ignore.”
