Employers overestimate ease of accessing workplace healthcare benefits, research finds
Healix Health found 91% of employers believed their healthcare benefits were easy to access, compared with 69% of employees who said they had found them easy to use.
Employers could be overestimating how easily employees can access workplace healthcare benefits, research from Healix Health found.
The Hidden Workplace Healthcare Gap Report found 91% of employers believed their healthcare benefits were easy to access, compared with 69% of employees who said they had found them easy to use.
The gap was wider among organisations with between 2,000 and 6,000 employees, where 90% of employers believed access was easy compared with 63% of employees.
Despite this, 49% of UK employers planned to expand their workplace healthcare benefits in 2026, while one in 10 employees had not tried to use their existing benefits.
Employers and employees also differed on the barriers preventing staff from accessing support.
Almost three in 10 (29%) employers identified confidentiality concerns as one of the biggest barriers, compared with 14% of employees.
Instead, 19% of employees cited a lack of available appointments, 19% pointed to time-consuming processes and the same proportion reported long waiting times.
Younger workers faced further challenges, with 26% of 18 to 24-year-olds saying they did not know how to access their workplace healthcare benefits, compared with 10% of employees aged over 55.
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