Employers are falling short in offering health and wellbeing support to their employees, according to research from Towergate Employee Benefits.
Just over half of employers provide support for mental and social health, and less than half provide support for physical and financial health.
The Towergate research into employer support for four key areas of health and wellbeing, shows that 54% of employers offer support for mental health and wellbeing and 52% for mental health and wellbeing.
But less than half offer physical health and wellbeing support (44%), financial health (43%) and 9% of employers offer no support.
Research was conducted by Opinium on behalf of Towergate Employee Benefits among 500 HR decision makers across the UK from 7 to 16 January 2025.
Towergate said that the 9% of employers stating they do not provide support for any of the main four areas of health and wellbeing was a very stark figure.
With 33.86 million people currently employed in the UK, it could mean that more than three million employees are receiving no health and wellbeing support at all.
When it comes to how employers feel about the health and wellbeing of their employees, the research showed mental health is the biggest concern, stated by more than half (51%) of employers.
Physical health of employees was a concern for 49% of employers, and 46% were concerned about their employees’ financial health.
Social health of employees is a concern for a third (33%) of employers. Just 10% of employers stated they had no concerns for the health and wellbeing of their workforce
Support by size of company
The research also showed significant differences in support depending on the size of company.
For all four pillars of health and wellbeing, companies with 20 or fewer employees are least likely to provide support, and large corporates with more than 250 employees are most likely to provide support.
For mental health and wellbeing, large corporate employers with more than 250 employees are almost twice as likely to provide support as companies with 20 or fewer employees.
Debra Clark, head of wellbeing at Towergate Employee Benefits (pictured), said: “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.”
Clark added: “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.”
