The vast majority of businesses (84%) offer or intend to offer support services and interventions for ill or injured staff, according to research from group risk industry body Grid.
Unsurprisingly the smallest firms questioned, those with only one to nine employees, were least likely to provide assistance with a third (34%) saying they did nothing for staff.
However, they were also the most likely to improve the situation, with 9% saying they had nthing but would introduce support in the next year. This compared with 4% of small firms, 3% of medium sized firms and no large firms.
The research also found just 4% of large employers offered no support, compared with 8% of medium sized firms with 50 to 249 staff, and 14% of small firms, in addition to the 34% of micro firms.
Flexible employers
Overall, of the 505 HR decision makers questioned by Opinium for Grid in January, 405 (80%) said their firm provided support already and from the multiple choice list, 1,346 answers were given, suggesting each firm on average offered 3.3 services or employment adjustments.
Only 16% of employers did not offer any support for newly ill or injured staff and would not change this, while 4% said they were planning on putting some support in place over the next year.
Almost one in 10 business surveyed (9%) said they offered no support because they couldn’t afford to, while 7% did not believe it was their responsibility to do so.
When asked about the support they did provide 33% offered a phased return to work plan, 26% emotional support such as counselling, 20% mental health first aid and occupational health.
A further 17% responded that they had access to an EAP, or helplines, or practical support such as access to a rehabilitation specialist.
The research also showed 16% paid for treatment, 11% offered access to a virtual GP, 10% vocational rehabilitation, 9% access to medical concierge service or medical specialist such as oncologist, and 7% access to a nurse led support service.
But in commenting on the findings, Katharine Moxham, spokesperson for Grid, said employers may have a greater arsenal of staff support available than they realise, due to the wide and ever-growing range of choice within mainstream employee benefits.
“Employers would be wise to lean on their employee benefits consultants for advice in understanding exactly what they have in place across multiple benefits to support those employees who are suddenly in ill health,” she said.
“We know employers want to do their best for their staff at times of ill health and we also know that many purchase employee benefits in good faith to support their employees for exactly this purpose.
“However, it’s quite possible that many are sitting on an untapped treasure chest of support that their employees could access if employers took a little more time to get a better understanding of exactly what it is that they’ve bought.”
She urged employers to understand the depth and breadth of support services offered by benefits packages which would help to determine the value they offered.
“That value may be measured in terms of employee outcomes such as recovery time and positive engagement with the workplace but also in terms of benefits for the business itself such as employee productivity and absence reduction,” she added.