Long-term sickness from work persists at 2.78 million people in the UK. This is not simply a problem for those experiencing a health issue or their employers; it’s a major strain on the economy. Simplyhealth CEO Paul Schreier maintains that while the government wants businesses to support employees’ health, workplace health benefits need to be simpler.
Research has found that this sickness crisis means Britain’s economy is 10% smaller than it would otherwise be, holding back growth and productivity, and costing £150bn per annum. It is in the economic interest of the government and employers to improve workers’ access to healthcare and help get employees back to work.
The government has made moves to address this. In the Spring Statement, Rachel Reeves committed extra investments to help people start or stay in work, scaling contributions up to £1 billion a year by 2029–30. This built on the announced £240 million cash injection laid out in the Autumn Budget last year to accelerate the rollout of local work, health and skills services to help people back into work.
Barriers to effective healthcare
However, current workplace health provision, like Private Medical Insurance (PMI) doesn’t do all that is needed. It often does not cover pre-existing conditions and can be complicated to understand and use (for employers and employees alike). Patients normally require GP referrals, and there’s a lot of complexity for businesses that want to introduce health provision – not least the high cost.
These barriers could not only prevent employees from using their benefits but also stop employers from offering them at all if they think employees won’t use them. In response to our survey earlier this year, employees said simplicity was the factor most likely to make them use health benefits (37%), followed by speed of access (36%), and cover for pre-existing conditions (22%). 31% of employers also said they had difficulty finding a plan for employees with existing health conditions, which causes issues when employers have to buy multiple plans or leaves employees with plans that do not cover their condition at all.
Our research also revealed that seven in ten (72%) employers say that, while they do want to offer more health benefits, they worry it’s too expensive to do so, while nearly six in ten (57%) worry about duplicating the health benefits that they are offering to employees, and over half (54%) find some health benefits hard to understand.
Offering a health benefit such as PMI to the whole workforce can often be expensive, leading to trade-offs like only offering healthcare to senior employees, with the majority of employees being excluded. With economic pressures weighing heavily on UK companies, employers need access to different healthcare options – such as health plans – that do not break the bank while also providing comprehensive, quick healthcare cover that works for all their staff.
To keep people healthy in work – and for the benefit of our economy – we need to make workplace health benefits simpler and more accessible for employees.
How employers can help
Employers recognise that they have a shared responsibility in reducing long-term sickness by providing workplace health benefits.
Simplyhealth research shows three-quarters (73%) of employers want to do more to protect their employees’ health in the face of challenges facing the NHS. The top reasons for workplace absence are mental health, MSK and minor illnesses, which are often exacerbated by long wait times for primary care services. For example, the number of people waiting for mental health care has risen by 29% over the last two years, with some waiting two years or more. As a result, many people are taking extra time off work, with some being forced to take long-term sick leave while they wait for treatment.
Preventing workplace sickness and retaining healthy employees means companies can keep invaluable long-term workers in place who have gained industry-specific expertise, experience and skills over the course of many years.
Recent research shows that replacing an employee could cost employers up to four times that person’s annual salary, depending on their experience.
And with the Keep Britain Working Review finding that people are five times more likely to return to work if they’ve been out of work for less than a year, compared to those who have been out of work for over a year, it’s in employers’ interest to offer support to get their employees seen sooner and on the road to recovery quicker.
The need for simple healthcare solutions
By simplifying health benefits, employers can offer wider support to employees and see greater return on investment. Health plans, for example, allow employees to claim back cash on their appointments without an initial barrier to use (such as a GP referral). This means employees can easily see what is on offer to them and are more likely to take up the benefits that their employer has invested in.
This should have a tangible impact on keeping people in work. Of employees who don’t have health benefits at present, nearly seven in ten (68%) said having health benefits would help them take better care of their health, nearly half (48%) said it would make them take fewer sick days, and over half (54%) said that it would make them more productive at work.
To drive economic growth, the government has made it clear that it wants employers to do more to get their employees back into work, and businesses themselves are keen to retain talent and boost their productivity.
Employers need accessible healthcare offerings without the complexity to help boost healthcare uptake from employees and reduce the number of people on long-term sick leave – benefiting not only the individual and the company’s bottom line, but the whole economy.
Find out more about Simplyhealth and its solutions to improve employee health and wellbeing
