EXCLUSIVE: Almost all (96%) employer respondents offer an employee assistance programme (EAP) on a core basis in 2017, a higher proportion than the 58% in 2013, and the 78% that did so in 2012, according to research by Employee Benefits and Health Shield.
The Employee Benefits/Health Shield Healthcare research 2017, which surveyed 121 employer respondents in July 2017, also found that 77% of respondents offer private medical insurance (PMI) as part of a core benefits package, up from 50% in 2011 and 43% in 2013.
Group risk products, such as group income protection (GIP) and life assurance, have always featured highly as core benefits because they are generally viewed as being of high value to employees but of a relatively low cost to the employer. Life assurance is provided by 95% of respondents to this year’s research, an increase from 63% in 2013 when the research was last conducted. GIP, meanwhile, is provided on a core basis by 74% of respondents. Back in 2001, this was the second highest-ranked health benefit, provided by 39% of employers.
Employee wellbeing is an issue that continues move up employers' radars. In 2013, 20% of employers provided staff with wellbeing advice or a health campaign; in 2017 this figure increased to 40%.
Although it is the first time we have included the question, an interesting figure to note is that 31% of respondents provide technology other than fitness trackers, such as apps, to support wellbeing on a core basis.
Read the full Employee Benefits/Health Shield Healthcare research 2017.
