How to tackle the £20k-per-employee sick leave bill with preventative healthcare
Long-term sick leave is now costing businesses an average of £20,735 per employee, according to research from MetLife UK, with short-term absences also costing around £13,800 per employee.
These figures highlight the growing challenge employers face managing sickness-related absence, and the pressure looks set to accelerate.
From April 2026, changes to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) will come into effect under the Employment Rights Bill. SSP will be payable from the first day of sickness, instead of after the current three-day waiting period, and extended to those earning below the Lower Earnings Limit.
While this is a welcome move for employees, it increases the financial and administrative demands for employers, particularly for those with large part-time or lower-paid workforces.
Given this situation, is now the ideal time for employers to shift from a reactive approach to employee health and wellbeing, to a proactive, preventative strategy?
Many organisations already offer health and wellbeing support such as employee assistance programmes (EAPs), private medical insurance or counselling, but these typically come into play once a problem has developed.
The smarter route is to focus on prevention and resilience-building, reducing the risk of absence in the first place. To do this effectively, data is the key.
REBA's Benefits Design Research 2025 found that eight out of 10 employers made significant changes to their benefits in the past year, with 46% increasing their investment in mental wellbeing, signalling a growing recognition of the importance of workforce health.
However, many underuse the wellbeing and absence data available to them and so are missing vital insights into trends and opportunities for providing employees with targeted support.
Embedding preventative health actions
A strong preventative health strategy hinges on three pillars: education, awareness, and habit change. Here are some key actions that can be taken around these pillars:
- Educate employees on key topics such as stress management, healthy sleep, and physical activity. This empowers them to understand their own health challenges and take action.
- Raise awareness of mental and physical health through campaigns, communications and line manager training. An open culture encourages early conversations and reduces stigma.
- Promote and encourage employees to make changes and implement healthy habits by embedding wellbeing into the workplace. Offer walking meetings, healthy eating sessions, or incentives for movement during the day.
It’s also vital to support employee work-life balance. Flexible working, adequate breaks and encouragement of annual leave can all prevent burnout.
Financial wellbeing is another essential piece of the puzzle and programmes that address budgeting, debt management or saving can help employees manage stress at home that may otherwise affect them at work.
Building a sense of community and connection through team-building activities, volunteering opportunities, peer support groups also can contribute to better mental wellbeing helping people feel valued and supported.
Meanwhile, resilience and change management training equips employees to better manage stress, transitions, and setbacks.
Make the most of data
Behind all of this should be a commitment to using data effectively. Employers hold a wealth of information, from absence records to information about how employees use benefits and insights from surveys or focus groups.
When analysed correctly, this data can identify patterns and pain points, such as departments with higher-than-average absence or roles with increased stress levels.
With this knowledge, employers can take early action. Data enables employers to understand the health of their workforce, the unique challenges they face and the support they need.
As part of their health and wellbeing strategy a recommended approach is to map care pathways that guide employees to the right support services and treatment options if, and when they may need it.
Starting with preventative measures, these pathways provide touchpoints to help employees recognise issues early, so they find support from wellbeing guidance and advice through to health and cancer screenings, and employee assistance programmes where people can access counselling services for instance if they suffer poor mental health.
This not only helps prevent issues from developing in the first place but also encourages earlier intervention, reducing the risk of problems escalating in the future. The pathways also signpost employees to support, and benefits should they get sick to enable them to recover quicker and help them get back to work.
With sickness absence costs rising and SSP reform approaching, now is the time for employers to embed preventative healthcare and wellbeing into workplace culture, use data better, and design forward-thinking strategies that protect both the people and the business.
Supplied by REBA Associate Member, Howden Employee Benefits
Howden provides insurance broking, risk management and claims consulting services, globally. We work with clients of all sizes to provide dedicated employee benefits & wellbeing consultancy.
