Worsening mental health prompting employers to look to OH for help

The pandemic and now the cost-of-living crisis have battered employee mental health, a survey has suggested, prompting more employers to consider investing in workplace-based healthcare provision, including occupational health.

The survey of 150 businesses for PwC found that two in five (38%) were reporting rising numbers of employees taking long-term sick leave because of mental ill health.

More than half (52%) agreed employee mental health had worsened since the pandemic, with a similar percentage (53%) saying the cost-of-living crisis was also having a negative effect.

Three in five of the employers polled (59%) agreed that employee ill health was now having an impact on the economic performance of their business, with a quarter (25%) strongly agreeing.

However, and more positively, this recognition of the growing impact of employee ill health does appear to be prompting more employers to consider taking the plunge and investing in workplace-based healthcare provision, including occupational health support.

More than half of the businesses surveyed (55%) recognised they had an important role to play in supporting employees’ health at a time of unprecedented pressure on health services.

When asked about increasing the health and wellbeing package offered to employees, just under half (44%) said they already offered their employees private health insurance, with a fifth (21%) intending to do so in the next two years.

More than a fifth (21%) were now offering access to an on-site doctor or nurse or health and wellbeing service.

Looking ahead, more than a quarter (27%) of the businesses polled said they are most likely to introduce physiotherapy or rehabilitation services and/or an in-house doctor or nurse as part of their health and wellbeing package to employees in the next two years.

Increased annual leave or wellbeing days and the introduction of health apps were the most popular employee benefits businesses had introduced in the previous two years, cited by 38% and 32% of those polled respectively. Subsidised gym membership was offered by 19%.

Drilling down into some of the employee health findings, four out of 10 of the employers polled (41%) said more employees were now working part-time or reduced hours because of ill health compared with the period before the pandemic.

More than a third (35%) had also seen an increase in the number of employees with complex health needs or multiple long-term conditions since before the pandemic, with this particularly being felt by small to medium-sized businesses (or those with up to 999 employees), where nearly half (48%) said this was the case.

Nine in 10 businesses (90%) said they had seen up to a fifth of their employees (or between 6% and 20% of the workforce) take short-term sick leave in the past 12 months.

Almost half (47%) had seen an increase in employees requesting flexible working patterns, including returning from maternity and paternity leave, compared with before the pandemic.

When it came to providing support to cope with the cost-of-living crisis, 60% of the businesses polled agreed they were concerned about the impact of the crisis on their employees’ mental health. More than half (55%) also agreed they have a role to play in supporting their employees.

As a result, over the past 12 months, more than three-quarters (77%) had given their employees increased financial benefits, such as a pay increase or salary bonus. Half (59%) had given one-off financial payments, for example energy support and cost-of-living bonuses.

Anthony Bruce, chair of health industries at PwC, said: “Increased sick leave means lower business productivity and high stress levels, and when not managed properly or supported, the risks, costs and disruption can be far greater.

“Helping employees to stay productive in work not only benefits organisations, it promotes the employee’ mental wellbeing and financial security at a time when stress and economic hardship are a worry for many,” he added.