5 reasons to offer health checks as a benefit for employees

Health is wealth, or so the saying goes. As Neal Shepherd, Partner at Secondsight, explains, organisations should take care to ensure that health is as much of a priority as wealth for their employees.

You may be used to discussing the range of financial benefits that you could offer your workforce to support them with rising costs or improve their financial wellbeing. But how often do you consider what you could do to support their health?

Health screenings, or health “MOTs”, are one way that you can help your employees to stay healthy. As many of us tend to lead increasingly sedentary and hectic lives, a benefits package that puts the focus on wellbeing could have far-reaching effects for both the individual and the business.

Employee health screenings can offer preventative advice

Employee health screenings involve a comprehensive check of an individual’s mental and physical health. They are designed to help identify early signs of a developing health condition or offer preventative advice to avoid health conditions from taking hold in the future.

Health screenings don’t have to be offered just by large businesses, they can also be implemented as an employee benefit for small and medium sized organisations too.

There are lots of different providers to choose from, and most will offer a tiered system of benefits so that you can select the programme that’s right for your employees and business. Depending on the provider, and the programme you choose, your employees may have access to tests and consultations in a range of different areas of health, including:

• Cardiovascular health
• Mental health
• Health coaching
• Diabetes screening
• Cancer screening
• Fitness testing
• 24/7 remote GP appointments

Many providers can also offer flexibility around when and where your employees access these services.

Whether they’d like to go to a local assessment centre, speak to someone on the phone in their free time, or book a consultation from the office in their lunchbreak, there are lots of options that can make healthcare accessible.

5 reasons to offer health screenings to your employees

1. Help employees to detect the early signs of developing health conditions

In our increasingly busy lives, keeping an eye on health is starting to slip further down the list of priorities for lots of people. This can sometimes mean that a niggling problem ignored for too long can possibly develop into something more serious.

Offering your employees an annual health screening can help detect the early signs of potential illnesses or health conditions when they are easier to treat. This could enable employees to stay healthier for longer. Moreover, regular health screenings could help them avoid reaching the advanced stages of an illness when treatment options may be more limited.

2. Empower employees to be more proactive in taking care of their health

When employers show that health is a priority, this attitude towards taking care of yourself can empower employees to be more proactive in their approach to health and wellbeing.

This could be of particular benefit to male employees who, according to research, are less likely to visit the GP about health worries than female employees. By encouraging employees to act, you can help them to take control of their health and reduce any concerns they may have.

3. Better health can lead to lower absence rates

Good health isn’t simply about being able to keep up with the kids or running for an early morning train. It can also affect a person’s performance and attendance rate at work.

A workforce that is in good health is less likely to require sickness absences due to coughs and colds.

According to the Office for National Statistics, in 2022 there were an estimated 185.6 million working days lost to sickness or injury; almost 30% of these were due to minor illnesses. As such, helping your employees to improve their general health could mean fewer workdays are lost to sickness.

4. Physical and mental health are interlinked

There is a well-established link between good physical health and better mental wellbeing.

According to research shared by the BBC, physical health disorders can make you more likely to suffer from low mood. Similarly, mental health disorders such as anxiety or depression can weaken the immune system, increasing your chances of developing an illness.

For this reason, supporting employees to maintain good physical and mental wellbeing can pay dividends to their overall health today as well as over the long term.

5. Employee benefits are tax-deductible

One of the reasons why smaller organisations tend not to offer health screenings as a benefit is the associated cost. While they may recognise the benefits, justifying that cost may be difficult.

Even though benefits such as these can be a costly expense initially, it’s important to note that they are usually tax-deductible. This means the cost of providing the benefit is an allowable expense, so it could help to reduce your profits for the year, and consequently reduce your Corporation Tax liability.

Get in touch

If you’d like to learn more about how Secondsight can help support the wellbeing of your employees, please get in touch.

Email info@second-sight.com or call us on 0330 332 7143.

Please note:

This blog is for general information only and does not constitute advice.

Secondsight is a trading name of Foster Denovo Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Reg No. 05970987.

Information correct as of 12/07/2023