Employee wellbeing | Don't let tax come between you and good mental health

By Tracey Ward, Head of Busines Development and Marketing at Generali UK Employee Benefits

While employers, insurers and wellbeing providers alike welcomed recent government recognition of the ‘crucial’ role of employers in supporting their people to stay mentally well this winter¹, it seems that HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) might not have got the memo!

Because while Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) are widely available to employees in the UK - and can generally be extended by providers at no extra cost to the household families of employees - seemingly strict rules regarding the tax implications of family usage might be deterring many employers from even considering this option. It needn’t be so.

Considering there simply are no boundaries now between home and work life thanks to this year’s mass shift to homeworking, not to mention the added pressure on families where furloughing is a factor, perhaps now is the time to take a fresh look at this issue.