Workplace health benefits people never use

Employee benefits packages are described once at induction and never mentioned again, which means a substantial proportion go unused.

What is commonly provided

Varying by employer and country.

Employee assistance programmes, which typically provide free confidential counselling sessions, plus legal, financial and practical advice lines.

These are among the most valuable and least used benefits, and they are usually available to family members as well.

Occupational health services, which assess fitness for work, recommend adjustments and support return to work after illness.

Employees frequently decline referral out of suspicion, when the service exists to recommend accommodations.

Private medical insurance, in some employers.

Health cash plans, which reimburse dental, optical, physiotherapy and other routine costs up to annual limits — frequently covering exactly the things people pay for out of pocket.

Eye tests and contributions towards glasses for screen users, which are a legal requirement in some jurisdictions.

Flu vaccination, provided free by many employers.

Gym subsidies and cycle schemes.

Income protection and critical illness cover, which is frequently held at group level and which employees do not know about.

Death in service benefit.

And enhanced sick pay, which is frequently considerably better than statutory provision.

The ones with the highest value

Where use is lowest relative to worth.

Employee assistance programmes, which provide immediate access to counselling at a point where public services have long waits.

Health cash plans, which for anyone with a family and routine dental and optical costs frequently return more than they cost the employer.

Occupational health, which can secure adjustments that keep someone in work.

And group income protection, which is the product most closely matched to the actual financial risk of illness and which individuals rarely buy for themselves.

How to find out what you have

Practically.

Ask human resources for the full benefits summary in writing, which is a normal request.

Check the intranet or benefits portal, which frequently contains services nobody mentions.

Read the contract for sick pay provisions.

Ask specifically about occupational health referral routes, since these are sometimes accessible by self-referral.

Ask what the employee assistance provider is and what the number is, and save it.

And ask what changes at different service lengths, since several benefits have qualifying periods.

Confidentiality

The main reason people do not use these.

Employee assistance programmes are generally delivered by external providers with clinical confidentiality, reporting only anonymised usage statistics to the employer.

Occupational health operates under clinical confidentiality: the report to the employer states fitness and recommended adjustments rather than clinical detail, and in many jurisdictions the employee can see it first.

Which does not eliminate the concern entirely, and it is worth asking what will be shared before engaging.

Adjustments and legal rights

Which sit alongside benefits.

Disability protections in many jurisdictions require employers to make reasonable adjustments, and cover fluctuating and mental health conditions more broadly than people assume.

Common adjustments: altered hours, phased return, workload changes, equipment, a quieter space, working from home, and time off for appointments.

Rights to request flexible working.

Time off for dependants.

Carer's leave, which exists in a growing number of jurisdictions.

And parental and other statutory leave.

Knowing your entitlement before negotiating changes the conversation substantially.

Workplace health and safety

Which is a source of provision people forget.

Display screen equipment assessments and contributions towards eye tests and corrective appliances for screen work.

Hearing protection and audiometric surveillance in noisy environments.

Health surveillance for specific exposures.

Vaccination for occupational risks.

Manual handling training.

And workplace risk assessments, including for pregnancy and for new or expectant mothers, which are a legal requirement in many jurisdictions.

What to do before leaving a job

Frequently overlooked.

Use any unused benefits — dental and optical allowances, health assessments, counselling sessions — before the cover ends.

Understand what happens to group insurance cover on leaving, since it generally ends immediately and continuation options are limited.

Check whether any medical insurance can be transferred, and on what terms regarding pre-existing conditions.

Check pension arrangements.

And note that leaving a job with group income protection or life cover means losing protection that may be expensive or impossible to replace individually, particularly after a diagnosis.

For the self-employed

Where none of this applies.

Which is a substantial and under-recognised disadvantage, and an argument for building the equivalents deliberately: a larger emergency fund, income protection insurance, and a plan for covering work during illness.

Professional bodies and trade associations sometimes provide access to group products at better rates than individual purchase.

General information only, not legal, financial or medical advice. Entitlements vary by country and employer — check your benefits documentation and consult an employment adviser.