Four in ten business have no interest in implementing

Only 4% of UK employers offer dedicated support for addiction to staff, according to research from employee benefits and well-being marketplace, Love Your Employees.

Conducted as part of its 5 Pillars of Employee Wellbeing  report, the research found that while around half of businesses (54%) have shown interest in implementing addiction support, only 4% have a form of support in place.

Furthermore, four in 10 (41%) employers stated that they have no interest in offering addiction support to their employees.

The research found that 13% of employers offer counselling for addiction, while 26.3% showed interest in implementing – meaning more than 60% of respondents were not interested in offering addiction counselling.

Elliott Smith, co-founder of Love Your Employees, commented: “While it’s interesting to see how many employers are interested in offering support for addiction, it’s clear that there are measures that must be put in place, as well as the need for more employers to recognise the issue.

Smith stated that addiction is often labelled as “too difficult” to address by employers, requiring “sensitivity, expertise and braveness” to tackle “a common problem area.”

“Funding in this area has been disseminated over the last 10 to 12 years, and for many there is nothing available where they live. Perhaps there are rewards to be had by offering this kind of support in the workplace,” he said.

“Helping to move those with problems from chaotic functioning towards a higher level of wellbeing and performance is in both employee and employer interests.”

Check out this recent testimonial video where our P3 personal proactive partnership led to identifying an employee whose family member had multiple addiction issues and how we got them and the employee the help that they needed.   The employer had been completely unaware of the situation which undoubtedly would have led to absence.