The Costs and Benefits of Occupational Healthcare Programmes for UK Firms: An Investigation

The cost of sickness absence for UK firms is considerable, estimated to be somewhere between �£13 and �£20 billion (CBI/AXA, 2007). The degree to which individual employers tackle workplace health issues and manage absenteeism varies considerably. Some will engage the services of occupational he...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Charlton, Michael
Format: Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)
Language:English
Published: 2007
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/21408/
Description
Summary:The cost of sickness absence for UK firms is considerable, estimated to be somewhere between �£13 and �£20 billion (CBI/AXA, 2007). The degree to which individual employers tackle workplace health issues and manage absenteeism varies considerably. Some will engage the services of occupational health providers; others will leave health issues to individual employees and the State. The amount actually spent by employers on occupational healthcare is trivial compared to the cost of absence suggesting that firms do not value or undervalue the contribution of workplace healthcare programmes. This dissertation examines the evidence that occupational healthcare makes a difference and uses some of the techniques of cost-benefit analysis to analyse the value created by wellbeing programmes, occupational health activities and employee assistance programmes. Financial models are constructed based on evidence from the literature and the models are subjected to a number of sensitivities. The analysis shows that, in the right circumstances, all three health programmes can save money for the firm.