7 October 2026

Why your workplace health and wellbeing strategy needs an evidence base

Workforce health, historically, hasn’t been considered urgent, but things are changing.

From statutory sick pay (SSP) to the introduction of menopause action plans, the legislation across the workforce benefits space is always changing. To build a workplace health and wellbeing strategy that stays ahead, employers need to know the numbers behind their workforce.

Current benefits landscape

The workplace benefits landscape has already changed twice in 2026, with the extension of statutory sick pay and introduction of menopause action plans, which will become mandatory in spring 2027 for large employers (250+ employees).

Expectations on employers are increasing too, as more scrutiny is placed on how they're supporting their workforce. For example, the SSP changes mean the cost of absence now lands earlier and more visibly on the employer than before.

For reward and benefits leaders, these aren't simply policy adjustments – but a turning point in how organisations manage absence, productivity, and workforce health and wellbeing.

The workforce health blind spot

When it comes to these changes there’s a problem: most organisations are managing changes in workplace benefits with no baseline when it comes to the health of their workforce.

Bluecrest’s The Hidden Health Crisis in UK Workplaces (2026) research shows that 86% carry at least one clinically significant cardiovascular health flag, such as high cholesterol, and many will show no symptoms at all.

A workforce can look entirely healthy on paper, while quietly carrying risk that won’t surface in HR data until something goes wrong. Bluecrest CEO Dominique Kent said: "You can't act on what you can't see. And for too long, workforce health has been invisible."

This is where the case for prevention usually stalls – not because employers disagree with it, but because they struggle to demonstrate its value.

Employers are being asked to build a business case for prevention without the evidence base to build it from.

That gap, between what employers believe about their workforce's health and what is actually true, is one of the biggest barriers to preventative investment today.

How to get ahead with your health and wellbeing

A one-off wellbeing day or occasional screening initiative builds goodwill, but it doesn't give you much you can actually use. What makes the difference is data you can track.

Once you know your workforce's baseline, you can see whether your wellbeing strategy is working, and change course when it isn't.

Here's where to start:

Establish your own baseline. Start by getting a clear picture of your workforce's health where it is today, so every future decision you make has a reference point.
Reassess the same cohort over time. Repeat and regular assessments help to turn a snapshot into a usable evidence base, showing how health shifts over time.
Track the trends as they change. Following changes across your workforce means emerging issues become visible much earlier.
Act on what the data shows. Direct resource and benefits to the areas flagged as highest risk, so investment translates into measurable impact.

The pattern we see across the employers we work with backs this up: it isn't one-off testing that shifts outcomes, it's the habit of repeat and tracked assessment.

Bluecrest data shows that, of employees who presented with elevated blood pressure at their first health assessment, 46.3% improve their blood pressure band by their second, rising to 48.9% by their third.

The financial case for acting now

The financial argument for closing that gap is already well established. The Institute of Public Policy Research, Healthy Industry, Prosperous Economy (2024), estimates that the UK economy is losing £30 billion as a result of declining employee health, and over 80% of that is attributed to presenteeism.

Risk is not universal. It varies by sector, gender, age, and region, meaning an effective prevention strategy must be built on data that's specific to your workforce – rather than assumptions from the general population.

The takeaway is simple: prevention isn't just another cost. It's the foundation of a workplace health and wellbeing strategy that produces the data you need to direct resource to where your workforce needs it.

Organisations building that evidence base now will be the ones able to act on it before the next change in cost or legislation forces their hand.

The question for employers now isn't whether to invest in prevention, but where to start.