Businesses ‘spending more for healthy workforce’

Organisations are spending more money on ensuring they have a healthy workforce but they may wish to also encourage their employees to look after their own wellbeing, one sector commentator claims.

Charles Cotton, adviser for performance and reward at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, notes the fact that businesses were increasing their funding on healthcare as surprising as the numbers of employees was dropping.

"I think that attitude will change now that businesses realise the proportion of their companies’ revenues that are being spent on healthcare benefits," he adds.

Mr Cotton states that there has been an increasing emphasis on encouraging workers to maintain their health in order to keep such costs down.

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Recent research by Employee Benefits, complied by Simplyhealth Healthcare Research, revealed that 14 per cent of firms across the UK now offer a company-paid healthcare scheme in the form of a health cash plan, compared with just five per cent last year.

Furthermore, this year, 54 per cent of employers say they should be responsible for employee health and wellbeing, compared to 49 per cent in 2005 and 57 per cent two years ago.