The direct costs of employee absence to the economy are estimated at over £14 billion per year – and the CBI’s latest absence survey found that the average total cost to business for each absent employee is £975. Thes CBI says these figures would be higher still if productivity lost due to presenteeism – staff attending work despite being unwell – was included as well.
Neil Carberry, CBI Director for Employment and Skills, said: "Having healthy staff is an essential part of running a healthy business. Investing in the wellbeing of employees is not only the right thing to do, it has real business benefits. It’s time for businesses and government to work hand-in-hand to move from a reactive to proactive approach on health and wellbeing in the workplace. Encouraging investment that gets people back to work sooner, with less of a burden on the NHS, is in everybody’s interest.”
Sue Weir, CEO of Medicash, said: "Developing and implementing a targeted healthcare strategy can help business avoid costly absenteeism and ensure their workforce is a happy, healthy and committed one. That’s why more and more businesses looking to increase output and maximise business performance are putting into place robust health and wellbeing strategies. Offering a health and wellbeing package is an affordable and beneficial means of doing this and of attracting, motivating, rewarding and retaining staff.”
The new CBI report – Getting Better: Workplace health as a business issue – outlines exactly how businesses can improve the wellbeing of their staff and provides a practical toolkit to support firms, based on the experience of CBI members to date.
Key actions that businesses can take to improve employee health include:
· Develop joined-up health and wellbeing programmes which factor in emerging public health trends
· Take a proactive and preventative approach to health and wellbeing to influence employee behaviour
· Equip managers with the knowledge and support to handle health conditions as swiftly as possible
· Ensure robust systems are in place to effectively manage absence and the return to work.
The CBI is urging the Government to support businesses doing this by:
· Promoting the new Health and Work Service, and ensuring it’s the default option for employees absent from the workplace for four weeks or more
· Using tax relief and incentives to encourage employer-funded interventions into health conditions at earlier points, taking the burden off the NHS and getting people back to work sooner
· Promoting the benefits of flexible working as a route to helping absent employees back into the workplace
· Continuing to raise awareness of key public health issues.
