The ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are having a significant impact on the world’s mental and physical health. In addition to tough lockdowns and severely restricted contact with family and friends, many have lost their jobs or been forced to significantly reduce their working hours, adding to an already stressful and uncertain time.
Fortunately, today, more and more employers understand their responsibility in supporting their employees’ wellbeing. In fact, Bank of America’s 2020 Workplace Benefits Report reveals that 62% of employers say they feel “extremely” responsible for their employees’ financial wellness today.
Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance
Among the myriad of concerns around COVID-19, if there is one way to relieve employee worries, it's worth doing. As an employer, one of the best things you can offer your employees is employer-sponsored health insurance.
For many people, prioritising their health and wellbeing is a catch-22; employees experiencing financial stress are more likely to avoid taking out health insurance due to concerns about how much it will cost them. After all, when people are stressed about their finances, the last thing they want to do is add to their list of expenses.
Employer-sponsored health insurance can help provide employees with much-needed peace of mind during a time of great uncertainty. Employer-sponsored healthcare insurance gives employees access to affordable care and allows employees to undergo medical procedures at private facilities, bypassing NHS queues. This knowledge alone can help reduce stress, knowing employees can afford help and get help when they need to.
Flexibility and Personalisation
When it comes to employer-sponsored health insurance, offering flexible solutions for your employees' health and wellbeing is also essential, addressing the needs of each generation depending on their life situation.
Customisation and flexibility - the ability to customise one's health insurance to fit their personal needs – is vital to financial wellness.
In our survey of 5,000 European employees last year, The Benefits and Engagement Report, 66% of UK employees said it would be helpful if they could adjust their employee benefits package based on their personal needs. Similarly, 60% say it's important that their employer offers them a choice of benefits relevant to their life stage.
Convenient Digital Enrolments
Of course, enrolment in any health insurance plans should be simple and not add to employee stress. Therefore, it's important that employees can enrol in benefits and insurances digitally through a benefits management system.
By enabling employees to enrol in benefits digitally, employers not only create greater employee self-service, but also reduce administration, and cumbersome processes, resulting in significant cost savings for the employer.
Better yet, if your employee benefits platform provider also has a communication engine, your employees can enrol anytime, anywhere, from their mobile phones without the need for HR assistance. Think: the greater the ease, the higher the participation.
Are you thinking of offering your employees’ health insurance? Download our Financial Wellness E-Book for tips on how to support your employees’ financial wellbeing.
