Weighing up weight-loss benefits provision

Nearly one in three adults in England are clinically obese. A further 36% are overweight. More than 10% of people have a BMI of 35% or more – a number which increases people’s risk of death before the age of 70 by a whopping 19%.

It’s no wonder weight loss medication such as Ozempic and Mounjaro (broadly categorized as GLP-1 drugs), have entered common parlance as the miracle drug people have been waiting for.

And it’s no wonder overweight employees are now piling on the pressure to get their companies to add these drugs to their employee benefit provision.

Staff want weight-loss benefits

According to new research by Howden Employee Benefits (revealed by HR Grapevine last month), more than a quarter (26%) of employees are either using, or have previously used, weight loss drugs. And it’s this usage that is now transforming into calls for employers to offer it as part of their employee benefits package. The data showed more than two-fifths (41%) now believe weight-loss medication is something employers ‘need’ to add to their benefits matrix. “The demand for these drugs is so obvious, employers can simply not afford to ignore it,” said Cheryl Brennan, Managing Director of Howden Employee Benefits.

But demanding it is one thing. What is the actual current state of play? And just because staff now feel their weight is now their employers’ responsibility to help manage, is this something employers ‘really’ want to get involved with.

Prepare for the big market shift

Experts HR Grapevine have spoken to have told us that within the next five years weight-loss support ‘will’ be an integral part of an employers’ benefits proposition – and if you’re not already thinking about it, you really ought to. Within the next few months, it’s expected that the first big UK employer will be announcing adding it to their suite, and when this happens, the domino effect will be difficult to stop.

“We’ve not seeing anyone in the UK openly provide weight loss drugs as part of their employee benefits provision, but we’ve already had conversations with the NHS and their occupational health teams to offer weight loss support to their own colleagues,” says Kevin Joshua, Clinical Lead at Juniper – which provides coaching services to people independently on GLP-1 drugs. He very much hints at being on the verge of being able to offer corporate services too.

He adds: “I’d be very surprised if don’t see an organisation like Amazon or BT announcing it in a big way – much like they did when offering the last big ‘new’ employee benefit, fertility support. I know the NHS is looking at this hard, and it’s almost a case of waiting to see who bolts first, for the rest to follow. Once this happens, demand will go through the roof.”

GLP-1 ‘works'

With NHS employees alone racking up sickness absence rates up to three times higher than the workforce population as a whole – plus certain NHS employee groups demonstrating above average levels of obesity (such as care workers, at 31.9%) – it’s no wonder the National Health Service – Britain’s largest employer – is taking this seriously.

Overall, obesity has one of the largest causal links with employee sickness absence, responsible as it is for creating an additional four days off per year due to health issues compared to the time off taken by healthy-weight employees. Those who are ‘very obese’ take an extra 6.5 more extra off per year [Obesity and Work: The Institute for Employment Studies]. It’s also well-researched that workers with higher body mass indexes are significantly more likely to have long-term absences – with one study suggesting they were 1.7 times more likely to take at least seven days’ sick leave at a time. Obesity not only causes physical ill-health, and risks the development of other more complicated medical issues, such as diabetes, heart conditions, and mobility problems, but it creates mental health issues too – the leading cause of absence now.

Oliver Willacy

Managing Director, Yazen

According to Oliver Willacy, MD at Yazen, the Nordic scale-up that has quickly become one of leading digital healthcare providers for obesity treatment across eight countries, all this points to not ‘if’, but ‘when’ GLP-1 drugs will become mainstream.

He says: “We’re running a pilot project with our first large employer, and are exploring how to expand out a provision and support model. I literally have no hesitation in predicting that within the next five years, weight loss support will be an integral part of employee benefit programmes. It’s that seismic. The obesity landscape will change dramatically.”

Yazen has done its own research that employers might want to take note of.

In a study it published only this month, looking at the wellness data of 1,351 patients across Europe, it found weight management care delivered significant results. Nearly a quarter (24%) of those on GLP-1 medication were found to have fewer sick days from work, with the average patient avoiding 5.2 sick days per year. In addition to this quantitative data, qualitative findings included the fact that nearly half (46%) said they felt more energetic at work; 19% said they felt their performance at work was better; 14% enjoyed their work more; and 12% said they actually found themselves looking forward to going into the office and attending meetings. “If anything,” adds Willacy, “the likely impacts are even larger, as self-reported data is typically underestimated.”