Findings

Full Report

Read our findings in full by downloading The Financial Times Report.

Productivity and engagement

• The results indicate that UK employees lost 13.6% of their working hours due to absence (1.2%), and presenteeism* (12.5%). This figure translates into an average loss of 35.6 days of productive time per employee per year.
• Productivity loss in the UK has been worsening over time, with employees losing, on average, 23.0 days of productive time in 2014, compared to 35.6 days in 2018.
• Productivity loss is higher amongst lower income workers, and younger workers.
• 21.5% of employees showed low work engagement, while only 12.7% showed high work engagement.

^* Note: Presenteeism may be defined as being present at work but being limited in some aspects of job performance by a health problem and thus experiencing decreased productivity and below-normal work quality. This is different to absence, which is generally defined as not showing up for work.

Mental health

• Young employees are particularly at risk for mental health issues, with 12.5% of those in the 21-25 year age category indicating they suffer from depression. This figure increases to 17.2% for the 18-20 year age category.
• 34% of employees indicate they have felt unwell because of work-related stress. This is more common among employees who earn lower-incomes.
• More than half of employees in the 18-40 year age category have financial concerns.
• Employees with increased financial concerns were shown to be losing more than twice as much productivity than those without any financial concerns.
• Employees with increased financial concerns were much more likely to smoke, to be obese, to suffer from hypertension or cholesterol or to report sleeping issues than the average respondent.

Physical health and lifestyle

• Nearly half of employees in the 51-60 year age category have one or more chronic conditions, principally asthma, severe allergies, arthritis or rheumatism.
• 37.2% of employees say they sleep less than seven hours per night, and approximately 45% have problems with the quality of their sleep.
• Younger employees are less likely to eat the recommended five fruits and vegetables per day, and are more likely to binge drink^** or to smoke.

^** Note: Binge drinking is defined as the consumption of six alcohol units (or more) in one occasion.

Women in the workplace

• Despite better overall health indicators – for example, being less likely to suffer from hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol; less likely to smoke or drink; and more likely to sleep more than the recommended seven hours per night - women lost, on average, more working hours (15.1%) due to ill-health than men (12.1%).
• 28% of women in the 60-64 year age category suffer from depression, compared to 17% of men.

Interventions offered by organisations

• On average, participating organisation offers more than 20 workplace health interventions, such as fresh fruit and vegetables in the workplace or clinical screening. For medium and large organisations, this increases to an average of 35 interventions.
• Less than 4% of participating organisations did not offer any of the 83 workplace health interventions included in the survey.
• 74% of employees who participated in any given intervention felt positive effects on their health, but only 27% of employees, on average, were aware of the interventions made available to them by their employer.

Full Report

Read our findings in full by downloading The Financial Times report.

Key Findings

Productivity and engagement

• The results indicate UK employees lost 11.7% of their working hours due to absence (0.8%) and presenteeism* (10.9%). This is significantly lower than in the other surveyed countries.
• The productivity loss is highest in the wholesale and retail trade sector and in the education sector. It also decreases with age and income, and varied by job categories.
• 17% of the respondents show low work engagement and only 11% show high work engagement.
• Young respondents are generally less engaged at work and feel fatigue at work.
• Employees who are able to work flexible hours and/or work from home lose less working hours due to absence and presenteeism, do more physical activity and feel significantly less fatigue than those who don’t.

* Note: Presenteeism may be defined as being present at work but being limited in some aspects of job performance by a health problem and thus experiencing decreased productivity and below-normal work quality. This is different to absence, which is generally defined as not showing up for work.

Mental Health

• Particularly young respondents are at risk for mental health, with 8.5% of those in the 21-25 age category indicating they suffer from depression.
• More than half of respondents in the 26-40 age category have at least some financial concerns.
• Employees with a lot of financial concerns are twice as likely to be obese and seven times more likely to suffer from depression than those without any financial concerns.
• 72% of employees with a lot of financial concerns suffer from work-related stress, compared to the survey average of 54%.

Physical health and lifestyle

• Nearly half of respondents in the 51-60 age category have one or more chronic conditions, principally asthma, severe allergies, arthritis or rheumatism.
• 29% of the respondents sleep less than 7 hours per night, and approximately 40% have problems with the quality of their sleep.
• Respondents who sleep less than 6 hours per night lose more than twice as many working hours due to absence and presenteeism than those who sleep more than 7 hours.
• Employees with sleep quality difficulties do less physical activity, drink more alcohol, are more likely to be smokers, show higher work-related stress, and are five times more likely to suffer from depression than those without any sleep difficulties.
• Interventions offered by organisations
• On average, each organisation offers more than 20 workplace health interventions such as fresh fruit and vegetables in the workplace or clinical screening.
• Approximately 5% of participating organisations do not offer any of the 75 workplace health interventions included in the survey.
• Majority of respondents who participated in any given intervention felt positive effects on their health, but only 18% on average are aware of the interventions on offer.

Full Report

Read our findings in full by downloading The Financial Times report.

Key Findings

• 160 employers of varying sizes and sectors across the UK took part in the 2016 survey, with 34,000 of their employees providing responses.
• Health conditions among respondents mirror wider trends across the UK, with a clear north-south divide: Yorkshire and the Humber has the highest workplace stress levels, while the North East reports the largest proportion of obese employees.
• The public sector has the biggest percentage of employees suffering signs of stress, depression and financial worries. It also has the highest estimated loss of productivity from absences and presenteeism.
• Health programmes that focus on nutrition are the most widely offered by employers, principally through the provision of fresh drinking water and facilities to store and prepare healthy food.
• Efforts to encourage physical activity, including providing space for bicycle storage and showers so that staff can cycle to work, are also widespread.
• Initiatives such as stress management to support mental wellbeing, and measures designed to tackle the heavy toll of smoking and alcohol, are less common.
• For all health programmes, there is a significant gap between their provision and the awareness, uptake and belief by staff that the initiatives are useful.
• Employees with flexible hours and the ability to work from home report lower absences and greater job satisfaction, and consider themselves to be in better physical and mental health.
• Those with inflexible hours, who are office-based and who face long commutes, are less productive and in poorer health.
• There is a strong correlation between participation in workplace programmes and improved health and productivity.
• Less presenteeism is reported among staff involved in initiatives to lose weight, exercise more and sleep an optimal seven to eight hours a night.
• Participation increases when employers allow staff to take part in health promotion programmes during working hours. Organisations whose senior management invest in workplace health and measure the returns see better results.
• 73 per cent of employees surveyed have at least one form of work-related stress; 41 per cent have two or more; 21 per cent have three or more.
• Half of employees surveyed said stress was due to unrealistic time pressure and demands; some 30 per cent said not being consulted about change in the workplace increased stress, while 28 per cent said it was a lack of control over the work that they do.
• In addition, 5 per cent of employees said they were bullied on a frequent basis and 18 per cent that they had been bullied at some point in the previous 6 months.
• Only 30.5 per cent of staff at large companies offering discounted gym membership were aware of the offer. Of those, 31.4 per cent took it up.
• In large companies, healthy options in staff canteens, bicycle purchase schemes and clinical screening services all had awareness rates of less than 50 per cent.

Media Releases

Britain's Healthiest Workplace launches
VitalityHealth today announced it has teamed with the Financial Times to launch Britain’s Healthiest Workplace. The survey will measure employer and employee responses to questions about health and lifestyle, providing an overview of Britain’s workplace culture and an understanding of how health can be improved.

Read more

Employees in overstressed, inactive and unproductive industries lose 27 days of productive time each year
Research from Britain’s Healthiest Workplace (BHW)*, surveying more than 32,538 workers across all UK industries, revealed that high stress and lack of physical activity are causing industries to lose up to 27 days of productive time per employee each year.

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Britain's Healthiest Workplace winners announced for 2016
The 2016 Britain’s Healthiest Workplace winners have been revealed and the awards have recognised Nomura International Plc as the healthiest large workplace, adidas UK the healthiest medium workplace and Forster Communications the healthiest small workplace.

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A third of UK adults at risk from drinking too much, yet just 6% of those at risk say they want to cut down
Britain’s Healthiest Workplace investigates the lifestyle health factors people are most willing to change in 2017 – attitudes are shown to differ drastically depending on the specific risk factor, with motivation to change being low for alcohol consumption, but higher for exercise levels and BMI.

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Full Report

Read our findings in full by downloading The Sunday Telegraph report.

Key Findings

• In 2015 the average productivity loss (absenteeism and presenteeism) was found to be 8.45% of overall working hours.
• Productivity loss was largely the same between 2014 and 2015. However, organisations that participated year on year show an increase in work initiatives.
• There is a significant relationship between productivity loss and bullying, unrealistic time pressures and a lesser degree of job autonomy.
• There is no statistically significant relationship between productivity and smoking or alcohol consumption. However, this does not necessarily mean these have no effect and it is expected that these lifestyle factors will reduce productivity in the long-run as they are related to serious long-term health conditions.
• Financial concerns are more prevalent among men, more likely among young and middle aged individuals, more likely among employees on non-permanent contracts and positively correlated with number of children.
• An employee with financial concerns has on average a 2.5% point higher work impairment share compared to an employee with no self-reported financial concerns.
• An employee with less than 5 hours sleep has on average a 7.4% higher work impairment share compared to an employee with at least 8 hours of sleep.
• Compared to 2014, 79% of repeat employees saw an improvement in their Healthiest Employer score.
• Since 2013, there was a 240% increase in participants responding.
• Healthy employees have an equivalent of 30 additional days of productive time each year.
• 76% of those surveyed reported that they engaged in at least two physical exercise sessions per week.
• Approximately 32% of those surveyed had 3 or more health risk factors.
• Almost half of respondents reported not eating five fruit and veg per day.
• 87% of those surveyed reported worrying about work-related stress.
• 77% of companies surveyed reported using work initiatives, such as distributing cards and letters, to encourage healthy lifestyles among staff.

Media Releases

Unhealthy employees costing British firms more than one month a year in lost productivity

British companies are losing on average 23.5 days of productive time per employee each year¹ as staff take time off sick and underperform in the office as a result of ill-health.

Read more

Work-life balance programmes most effective at reducing staff stress

Research from Britain’s Healthiest Company* shows UK companies are waking up to the importance of managing employee stress but more can be done.

Read more

Britain’s Healthiest Company winners are revealed

The 2015 Britain‟s Healthiest Company results are out and the awards have recognised Johnson & Johnson as the healthiest large company, adidas UK the healthiest medium-sized company and Old Mutual as the healthiest small company.

Read more

Full Report

Read our findings in full by downloading The Sunday Telegraph report.

Key Findings

• Sick leave and working while unwell costs organisations, on average, 7.78% of their yearly wage bill. Using ONS statistics, this translates into an estimated total cost of lost productivity to the UK economy of over £58 billion per year.
• Nearly two thirds (62%) of respondents reported at least two bad lifestyle habits that put them at serious risk of future ill health.
• 87% of British workers have a Vitality Age older than their actual age, with an average difference of nearly four years older. (Vitality Age is a health-risk-adjusted age calculated using Vitality's unique algorithm.) Nearly one in seven people (13%) have a Vitality Age more than eight years older than their actual age.
• Employees tend to be overly-optimistic about their current state of health; one third (33%) of employees have three or more risk factors but, of these employees, over half (58%) believe they are in “good” or “very good” health—meaning they are less likely to have the motivation to change bad habits.
• About one in five employees (19%) suffer from at least one lifestyle-related chronic condition such as heart disease, diabetes or high blood pressure.
• 52% of respondents don’t eat healthily enough or don’t have a balanced diet; 67% of these respondents have no motivation to change their eating habits.
• Nearly two in five (39%) are impacting or have impacted their health through smoking; three in five smokers (60%) have no intention of stopping any time soon.
• Over a third (36%) are not exercising enough; 33% of these do not want to exercise more.
• One in five (20%) are overweight or obese with an unhealthy body composition based on BMI (body mass index); 16% of these respondents do not want to lose weight.
• Nearly one in five (19%) drink too much alcohol; 93% of these have no motivation to change their drinking habits.