The 2025 CIPD Health and Wellbeing survey report, supported by Simplyhealth, returns this year and is once again accompanied by Health and Wellbeing at Work: Views of Employees ("the Employee Survey"). While there is certainly encouraging data in both documents, they also highlight what now seem to be certain entrenched difficulties with workplace wellbeing.
The good news
According to the report, the number of organisations taking a strategic approach to workplace wellbeing is on the up. Since 2020, the number of employers that have a stand-alone wellbeing strategy has increased by 13% to 57%. There is also an increase, from 61% to 75%, in the number of senior leaders who now have wellbeing on their agenda. Most organisations now provide support for employees dealing with caring responsibilities for young children (75%), bereavement (67%) and chronic health conditions and disabilities (67%). In addition, an overwhelming majority of organisations are taking action to support employee mental health at work. The most common measures include counselling services, phased returns to work, other reasonable adjustments and offering an employee assistance programme.
The not so good news
While the increasing focus on employee wellbeing may well filter down to absence levels in the coming years, unfortunately it has not yet done so. Average absence levels have sharply increased over the past three years. Having been at 5.8 days per employee per year in 2022, we saw an increase to 7.8 days by 2023 and this year's report finds that the average absence level is 9.4 days per employee, per year. Once again mental health was the top cause of long-term absence, with minor illnesses being the main reason for short-term absence. However, mental ill health was also the second main cause of short-term absence. Stress, which is categorised separately from mental ill health, is the fourth most common cause of both long and short-term absence.
Why has the absence rate increased?
It is always necessary to look beyond the headlines. The report highlights that one of the underlying reasons for the increase is that people are living and working longer. With that longevity comes an increased chance of age-related health problems. In addition, some illnesses are impacted by the working environment. Once again, the report has found that heavy workloads are one of the most common causes of stress-related absence. Management style is also cited as a significant factor. The report also found that certain non-work factors are commonly blamed for causing stress, including relationship, family or financial concerns. There is also a discrepancy between the number of organisations who take steps to reduce stress (64%) and the number who think their efforts are effective (50%).
Interestingly, over a third of organisations with employees who work from home report that sickness absence rates have decreased. To some extent that may be a result of employees being away from the workplace so that the spread of infectious illnesses is limited. Four years ago, the 2021 report found that presenteeism was on the increase, even with more people working from home. In contrast, this year's report says that the apparent decrease in homeworkers' sickness absence is not down to presenteeism.
What are the employees saying?
There are some worrying findings arising from the Employee Survey. A quarter of employees feel work has a negative impact on both mental and physical health. Scaled up to the UK labour workforce that equates to around eight million employees. Mirroring the findings in the report, high workloads and being put under excessive pressure are identified as having negative health impacts. Relationships with colleagues and poor perceptions of line managers are also causative factors identified in the Employee Survey. It is not all bad news though, with around two-thirds of employees rating their mental and physical health as good or very good.
As regards working from home, the Employee Survey suggests that a level of hybrid working is most beneficial to employees. The research found it correlates significantly more strongly with positive perceptions of mental health compared to employees with no availability of homeworking. Hybrid working is also more strongly correlated to good physical health compared with only working from home.
What can employers do to bring absence levels down?
While many employers are taking steps to support mental health, the report found that the main focus of activity tends to be reactive not proactive. The report highlights the need to take steps to promote good mental health and identify and manage the main psychological risks to employees. Cost-effectiveness is the most common factor organisations consider when selecting health-related benefits. It is important therefore to align the benefits offered to the needs of the employees. Consulting employees on what needs require to be met should assist in maximising both value for money and benefit for organisations.
