Only a third of employers offer financial support to their staff in the event of ill health, injury or death according to new research from Group Risk Development.
The research found only one in three employers financial this protection to their entire workforce, however the figures rise by a third if the number of employers who say they offer support to some staff, rather than all employees is taken into account.
However Grid points out that this partial coverage is leaving employees vulnerable , many of whom may be those least able to cope financial with long term health issues, serious illness of the loss of the main breadwinner.
Grid spokesperson Katharine Moxham says: “Wider industry statistics indicate that the number of employers who offer support is actually much lower in practice, and given the current squeeze on household finances, this highlights a woeful lack of financial support and security for many employees.
“As individuals, we like to think that ‘it won’t happen to us’ and perhaps, as optimistic employers, the tendency is also to think that ‘it won’t happen to our employees’ but it can and does.”
The UK Group Risk industry paid out £2.22bn in claims in 2021 to 30,932 employees – equivalent to £6.1m a day, demonstrating the extent to which these employee benefits help employees and their families to cope financially when their lives take a turn for the worse.
Moxham adds: “Support for serious issues like absence, illness and death is affordable and accessible for employers to offer their staff. We would encourage those who don’t offer any support to do some investigation and those who only offer support to some staff to consider making it available to everyone.
“I cannot imagine being on the HR team that has to tell one member of staff that they are eligible for financial support and then having to tell another that, for whatever reasons, they are not on the same scheme. When two individuals face a health crisis, they both deserve access to financial support.”