Employee Wellness Research 2016: EAP and gym membership top the wellness charts

Employee assistance programmes (EAPs) top the table as the most popular offered wellness initiative amongst organisations, according to a survey conducted by the Reward & Employee Benefits Association (REBA) in conjunction with Punter Southall Health & Protection.

The REBA/Punter Southall Health & Protection Employee Wellness Research 2016 report showed that 86.8% of those surveyed offer EAP followed by nearly three-quarters (72.2%) who offer discounted or free gym membership.

Health support came high on the list too with 59% offering mental health support and almost the same number (58.8%) offering health screenings.

Focus on fitness

Encouraging staff to be fit and active is a big focus. 40% offer free fruit and 29.8% offer nutritional advice. A third offer onsite fitness classes and 30.4% offer fitness challenges. Organisations with a gym ranked lower at just over one in five (21.8%) whilst a similar amount (20%) helped with weight loss through weight loss programmes or challenges.

“Traditional methods such as EAP and gym membership may dominate currently but it’s interesting to see the rise of other health and wellbeing programmes rising up the rankings too as organsiations increasingly realise their value in a balanced wellness strategy,” said Debi O’Donovan, director of REBA.

Download a free copy of the 36 page, in-depth REBA/Punter Southall Health & Protection Employee Wellness Research 2016