Only half of employers support four pillars of employee health and wellbeing, report finds

Little over half of employers provide support for mental and social health, and less than half provide support for physical and financial health, according to research from Towergate Employee Benefits.

Despite the growing awareness of the importance of a holistic approach to workforce wellbeing, the research found that many employers are not yet offering adequate support across all four pillars.

According to the findings, just over half of employers said they currently offer support for mental (54%) and social wellbeing (52%), while less than half provided support for physical health (44%) or financial health (43%).

Alarmingly, 9% of employers reported that they do not offer any support for these core areas of wellbeing.

Given that the UK currently has approximately 33.86 million people in employment, this equates to more than three million employees receiving no formal wellbeing support in the workplace.

Debra Clark, head of wellbeing at Towergate Employee Benefits, 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.”

When it comes to how employers feel about the health and wellbeing of their employees, mental health is the biggest concern, stated by over 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 was 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.

The research also showed significant differences in support depending on the size of company.

For all four of the pillars of health and wellbeing, companies with 20 or fewer employees were least likely to provide support, and large corporates with 250+ employees were most likely to provide support.

For mental health and wellbeing, large corporate employers with 250+ employees were almost twice as likely to provide support as companies with 20 or fewer employees.

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.”