Some of the most effective health benefits at cutting workplace absence and supporting health and wellbeing have the lowest uptake among small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
This is according to research from Canada Life among 550 HR decision-makers at companies with one to 249 employees which showed these employers are providing their employees with one or more employee benefits or services to support their employees’ wellbeing.
More than eight out of 10 (82%) SMEs revealed they provided access to one or more of the following insurance-based health and wellbeing employee benefits.
The services they provide are:
However, the order of benefits differed when SMEs were asked if they agree the services they offer are effective for supporting employee health.
Almost all SMEs (96%) who provide access to online fitness and nutrition programmes agreed they were effective at reducing workplace absence and supporting employee health and wellbeing, followed by phone and video GP appointments (92%) and private medical insurance (92%).
Nine in 10 (90%) SMEs agreed virtual mental health counselling or self-help online stress management tools make a difference too, as do occupational health services (90%), while 88% agreed group critical illness and group income protection plans are valuable when employees face ill-health.
Chris Morgan, head of proposition and product strategy, protection, at Canada Life, said: “Small businesses depend on a healthy workforce – when employees are unwell, the impact on productivity can be significant.
“It’s encouraging to see some SMEs are investing in health and wellbeing benefits, but it’s vital they regularly assess whether these benefits are effectively supporting their employee’s health and workforce productivity.
“As a group protection provider, we support conversations between employers and their employee benefits advisers about solutions that help people stay in work.
“We work with them to analyse WeCare’s usage data and consider employee experiences and feedback, to demonstrate how integrated services deliver measurable improvements for both business performance and employee wellbeing.”
