The majority (52 percent) of employees who have been ill or had an injury lasting more than two weeks said their employer did not help with their recovery and return to work.
The finding was revealed in a survey conducted by YouGov on behalf of provider YuLife.
More than one in five UK employees (21 percent) that experienced a long-term health-related absence from work reported that they had received no recovery or rehabilitation assistance from their employer.
More than half of respondents (56 percent) said that they are ‘not confident’ in the NHS’s ability to support their rehabilitation if they faced an illness or injury that would keep them off work for two weeks or longer. Only 8 percent of people said they are ‘very confident’ in the NHS.
Assistance unlikely
More than a third of respondents (35 percent) said that their employer would be unlikely to provide assistance in the same circumstances, and only 17 percent thought that their employer would be ‘very likely’ to assist.
The recent Darzi report identified a surge in long-term conditions as one of the central challenges facing the NHS.
The onus is on employers to improve the support they offer to employees, while also helping their workforces to reduce the common risk factors that can contribute to long-term conditions in the first place.
Healthy workforce
“Employees are feeling a real lack of support when recovering from illness or managing their health more generally, whether from their workplaces or from wider society,” said Sammy Rubin, CEO and founder of YuLife.
“There is a clear need for employers to step up and offer additional layers of assistance to ensure that the workforce is as healthy as possible – not only benefiting individuals but also making businesses more productive. For too many employees, effective employer-led recovery and rehabilitation programmes are a missing piece of the puzzle, without which they cannot restore their health and achieve their career goals.”
More than three-quarters (76 percent) of respondents said that the key factor that would support an effective recovery after an illness or injury were rest and time off work, while 56 percent pointed to short wait times for medical appointments, and the same percentage (56 percent) said high-quality medical advice and treatment would help.
Mental health support and therapy were also identified by 30 percent of respondents as an aid to recovery after long term illness or injury. However, there is a significant age divide as this kind of support was a more significant factor for under 35s (38 percent), as opposed to over 55s (15 percent).
A substantial proportion of all employees (47 percent) said that emotional challenges or mental illness have affected their productivity at work in the past year, while 30 percent said physical illness or injury have affected their productivity in the same 12 month period.
