"Group income protection will always have a vital role when sickness strikes. However, the world of work has changed, and one of the most valuable things GIP can do is help prevent absences from happening in the first place."
- Dominic Grinstead - MetLife UK
MetLife UK and YuLife’s Prevention Advantage guide has found that one in six businesses do not monitor employee absenteeism.
Two in five said the reason for this is that their business is too small to need tracking, while 26% said it’s because it is not a business priority, and a further 14% said tracking absence takes too much time and effort.
One in six business owners also said they do not calculate the cost of sickness absence, despite the average long-term absence costing as much as £20,735 per employee.
MetLife UK and YuLife’s partnership has produced The Prevention Advantage guide, with the aim of supporting companies with preventing sickness rather than paying for it.
The companies have delivered a new insurance model beyond group income protection (GIP), focused on both prevention and recovery. This includes prevention-led tactics with gamified elements designed to increase engagement and with the intention of keeping people healthier for longer.
For example, for a business size of 25 people, prevention tactics could save a business £3,243 per year in short-term absence costs, or £130 per employee, by encouraging daily wellbeing habits.
MetLife UK data also shows that triggering early intervention support within the first four weeks of an employee developing a health condition results in a 96% return-to-work rate. This is reflected in YuLife’s findings, which show that more than half of users who took mental health-related sick leave returned to work within three months.
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"Group income protection will always have a vital role when sickness strikes. However, the world of work has changed, and one of the most valuable things GIP can do is help prevent absences from happening in the first place," Dominic Grinstead, CEO of MetLife UK, said.
Dominic continued: "Acting earlier keeps people in work, businesses productive, and the whole system more resilient. Workplace health needs to be a business priority if we’re to keep work working. Together with YuLife, we've built a model that actively prevents avoidable illness while continuing to protect employees when they need it most."
Tal Gilbert, CEO of YuLife, said: "The insurance industry has known for years that employee benefits are not valued when they simply sit unused. What we’ve built at YuLife is something employees genuinely want to engage with: grounded in science, fun, and rewarding.
"When you embed that inside group income protection, you make the product work long before a claim is ever made. That’s the future of health at work, and with MetLife UK, we've made it real. It's good for employees, good for employers, and good for the nation."
