Nearly three-quarters of workers (72%) who had to take time off for illness last year but were also working for an employer offering group income support, managed successfully to return to work, an analysis has argued.
While there will always be a range of different factors governing when and how someone returns after illness, GRiD, the industry body for the group risk protection sector, has argued its data illustrates the link between group income support and successful return to work.
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Employers continued to extensively use group risk protection, such as employer-funded life assurance, income protection and critical illness benefits, to provide financial support to employees and their families in 2024, it said.
A total of £2.59bn was paid out by the group industry during 2024, an increase of £99.2m compared to 2023, GRiD said. This is the equivalent of more than £7m a day.
In addition to financial payments, one of the most valuable benefits of group risk is the support it can provide in helping employees stay in or return to work, it argued.
The 72% who had returned to work were all employees notified by employers as potential group income protection claimants and who had a period of prolonged sick leave starting in 2024, GRiD pointed out.
In all, during 2024, 6,733 people who had a period of sick leave were helped to return to work by the end of 2024. Of these, 4,994 were able to go back to work before a claim was made following interventions provided by the insurer.
A total of 1,739 employees who newly claimed a group income protection (GIP) benefit during 2024 had returned to work by the end of the year.
In total, 5,574 interventions were initiated within six months of someone’s first absence by group risk insurers during 2024. Among these, half (50%) received mental illness support, 10% had received musculoskeletal support and 9% had cancer support, said GRiD.
Almost 8,500 people in total were helped by interventions made by group risk insurers during 2024. A total of 499 employees who became new GIP claimants during 2023 had returned to work by the end of 2024.
This was in addition to the 1,608 employees who began claiming GIP benefits in 2023 that had returned to work by the end of 2023, GRiD added.
Katharine Moxham, spokesperson for GriD, said: “With the backdrop of the government-backed Keep Britain Working review, these industry-wide statistics are particularly pertinent this year.
“It’s clear that many employers are already benefitting from the significant support that is offered via group risk products in retaining their employees in the workplace, helping them return to work when they are ready to do so, and in providing financial support to staff and their families when they are ill or incapacitated.
“This has largely been achieved due to employers seeking to do the right thing and support their staff. Group risk has the potential to play an even greater part in the UK’s economic recovery if more employers adopted this approach,” Moxham added.
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