One in five employers do not offer any form of support for newly ill or injured staff according to research from Group Risk Development (Grid).
Of those that do, Grid found that on average they only facilitate three types of support for staff in this position, when often a far broader support packages is required to help employees either stay or return to work.
Grid says that many of these employers will have access to a comprehensive range of support for this group via their existing employee benefits schemes but may not be fully aware of the options.
According to the research, from a range of 17 different support options, phased return-to-work plans are most commonly offered to staff for new injuries, illness or disability, by 33 per cent of employers.
It found 26 per cent of employers offer emotional support (such as counselling) for the same purpose, while 20 per cent offer newly injured, ill or disabled staff support via mental health first aiders.
Least prevalent are offering access to medical concierge (9 per cent), medical specialists (such as oncologists) (9 per cent) and nurse-led support services (7 per cent).
However Grid points out that group risk products often have such a wide variety of these embedded support services.
Katharine Moxham, spokesperson for Grid says: “Many employers may have a greater arsenal of support available for this group of employees 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.”
Employee benefits consultants also have a vital role in helping employers avoid unnecessary duplication of support types according to Grid. For example, several products used by an employer may all contain different employee assistance programmes.
Where duplication is unavoidable, the consultant can help the employer determine which product or products offer the most comprehensive support in different employee circumstances, and to utilise that one/those.
Moxham adds: “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.
“Every employer should and will take cost into consideration when purchasing employee benefits, but by understanding the depth and breadth of that support, they’ll also be able to determine the inherent value too. 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.”