Only two in five or 40 per cent of employers offer physical health support, such as private treatment or vocational rehab, for injured or ill employees, according to Grid.
Businesses provide a variety of benefits for injuries or new illnesses/disabilities: 38 per cent provide mental health assistance, such as Mental Health First Aiders, EAPs, and counselling; 38% provide social health support by involving employees in workplace events; and 36% provide financial health aid, such as budgeting advice, discount coupons, and pay advances.
Employers who provide support to employees with injuries, new illnesses, or disabilities report that physical health support is the most beneficial, followed by mental health at 31 per cent and financial health at 29 per cent.
Additionally, 41 per cent of businesses provide support on an individual basis. Grid identifies many drawbacks of case-by-case support funding arguing it is expensive and difficult to budget, lacks consistency, which can lead to claims of inequality, requires clinical knowledge to minimise wasted funds and delayed outcomes, and may be insufficient for long-term or complex illnesses.
Grid spokesperson Katharine Moxham says: “While it is good to see employers thinking broadly about their staff in these situations across the four main pillars of physical, mental, social and financial support, these figures are low. We would like to see more employers prepared to support their workforce through these difficult times.
“We would encourage more employers to investigate how group income protection has helped other companies and how it could support theirs. It does of course give financial assurance but also a great deal of preventative and rehabilitation support too.”
