The research shows that while absence is an issue across the board for businesses of all shapes and sizes, 35 per cent of SMEs with up to 249 employees are actively using flexible working strategies to combat absence, to just 23 per cent of organisations with over 250 employees.
But bigger employers are considerably more likely to use health and wellness programmes, used by 32 per cent of large firms, compared to just 13 per cent of SMEs.
The research shows 23 per cent of larger firms use stress counselling, compared to 14 per cent of smaller firms. SMEs are more likely to use return to work interviews, used by 17 per cent of SMEs, compared to 13 per cent of larger employers.
| Method | Micro business (1-9 employees) % | SMEs (1-249 employees) % | Big business (250+ employees) % |
| Flexible working | 38 | 35 | 23 |
| Health & wellness Promotions | 11 | 13 | 32 |
| Stress counselling | 10 | 14 | 23 |
| Return to work interviews | 5 | 17 | 13 |
| Disciplinaries for unacceptable absence | 6 | 14 | 15 |
| Employee Assistance Programme | 7 | 11 | 24 |
Grid spokesperson Katharine Moxham says: “The larger the workforce, the easier it is to offer flexible working but the harder it is to monitor it. If smaller businesses are making this work as an absence-management solution though, there is no reason why larger business couldn’t do the same.”
“It’s encouraging to see small businesses employing creative ways to target absence. There also seems to be a greater propensity among SMEs to arrange return-to-work interviews for similar purposes.
“It’s evident in these figures that smaller and larger organisations take a very different approach to managing absence, and whilst that is perhaps to be expected, an area where all could benefit is by better utilising the support that exists for employers, line managers and employees at no extra cost within group risk products.
“If you have staff with qualifications in physiotherapy to help employees with musculoskeletal conditions; medical experts to offer a second opinion, psychologists and psychiatrists to support those with mental health conditions; relationship counsellors; and other expert therapists, you may not need the support provided within a group risk policy. However, for organisations that don’t, having support in place via group risk benefits that offers early intervention backed up with a variety of expertise, can make a huge impact to absence levels.”