CIPD: 'Wellbeing vacuum' putting employee health at risk

Despite the raised awareness around the benefits of a healthy workplace, UK businesses are still failing to implement wellbeing schemes, according to a new report.

The study, conducted by the CIPD, is titled “Growing the health and wellbeing agenda: From first steps to full potential.” It highlights that there remains an “implementation gap” in British workplaces which is inevitably threatening individuals’ health and long-term business sustainability.

The report explains that less than one in ten (eight per cent) of UK organisations currently have a standalone wellbeing strategy that supports the wider organisational strategy, whilst 38% of staff are under excessive pressure at work at least once a week.

The study also found that that the average cost of absence now stands at £554 per employee per year, and yet less than two-fifths of organisations monitor the cost of employee absence. A further 43% of employees claim that long hours working is the norm for their organisation, however wellbeing is taken into account in business decisions only to a little extent, or not at all, in the majority (57%) of cases.