Low take-up of Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) is costing businesses, according to HCML.
According to HCML’s recently published corporate health and wellness report, 79 per cent of firms provide an EAP, yet only 27 per cent of employees are aware of its presence.
Furthermore, nearly 85 per cent of businesses claimed that EAP utilisation is barely 3–5 per cent showing that many EAPs are underutilised, costing organisations money while not successfully supporting employees or reducing absenteeism.
Meanwhile, 53 per cent of employers see mental health issues as the primary cause of sick leave, highlighting the EAP’s importance despite low knowledge and utilisation.
According to the HCML survey, the vast majority of employers (88.5 per cent) believe it is their obligation to support employee health and well-being. However, despite 52 per cent of employees requesting more support from their employers to improve their health and wellbeing, there is a significant lack of knowledge about available healthcare solutions and employee uptake.
The report highlights employees’ top five health and wellbeing priorities: nutrition at 38 per cent, physical activity at 36 per cent, sleep quality at 36 per cent, maintaining a positive attitude at 35 per cent, and weight management at 30 per cent.
HCML suggests expanding support to include lifestyle issues such as nutrition and exercise, which have an impact on overall health and absenteeism.
HCML strategic development director Pamela Gellatly says: “Our research makes it clear that the right support is not being offered. A rise in sickness absence, particularly when it comes to mental health, shows that existing EAPs are not really identifying or addressing the issues. This is because many EAPs on the market offer a one-size-fits-all approach which is not representative of the different demographics within any business and the varying complexities which make up mental health conditions.
“Instead, there is a need for EAPs now to offer a ‘whole person’ approach. For example, only 16 per cent of those surveyed say that their EAP offers Musculoskeletal support, despite around a third of the nation suffering from MSK conditions, and less than a third say their EAP offers nutrition support. We see digestive issues as one of the main reasons for ill health across our clients and are well aware of the impact this has on people’s mental health. Therefore, an EAP that offers this kind of support can be extremely effective in supporting employee health and wellbeing, and reducing absence.
“When we look at our own data taken from over 120,000 cases, we know that 85 per cent of ill health has an underlying cause or contributory risk factor that is non-clinical, including issues such as weight, sleep and nutrition. This highlights the importance of finding a health and wellbeing solution that can address underlying causation and risk factors to reduce the risk of ill health in the workplace and by prox,y the worsening issue of workplace absence. We’ve found that through our enhanced EAP offering, engagement is much higher because of the services offered.”