New Study Shows Less Than Half of U.K. Businesses Believe They Have a Duty of Care to Employee Health

In the U.K. people here, like everywhere else, are working in tough times, which looks set to continue as people put in longer hours, are more stressed and feel anxious about the future, particularly job security and their financial future. Now, a new report published by leadership training organisation Morgan Redwood shows that less than half of U.K. businesses believe they have a duty of care to employee health, with only 46 percent of firms regarding staff health as an employer’s responsibility. This is in spite of 82.8 percent of companies believing that business performance and staff wellbeing are connected! These latest statistics are in contrast to a previous Morgan Redwood study conducted in 2009, where 95 percent of businesses believed they did have a duty of care to the health of their employees. These latest findings really do indicate a startling shift in employer opinion.

Morgan Redwood’s latest research, Wellbeing and Business Performance, is based on responses from the heads of HR departments or board director level from over 250 businesses across the U.K., from a mix of sectors and a range of company sizes, with two thirds employing over 250 people, and none less than 50. It shows that over a third of companies are concerned about how they look after people who leave. Over half of smaller business wants to inject a sales culture in their operations; almost one in four larger companies are also concerned about this issue. Forty-four percent of the largest businesses and 68 percent of the medium-sized businesses are troubled by absenteeism through sickness.

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Sangeeta Haindl writes on women and children; social innovation; social enterprise and social entrepreneurs. She is the founder of Serendipity PR, in London, U.K., where she works with high-profile brands and organizations in the public, non-profit, and corporate sectors, winning awards for her work from the communications industry. She is chairman of London's leading conscious well being organisation, Alternatives, which hosts leading speakers such as Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson, Neale Donald Walsch and many other well-known names. She describes herself as a Spiritual Entrepreneur, Conscious Explorer; enjoying helping others, paying it forward and being a mum.