11th March 2020
While the benefits of implementing a wellbeing programme for employees may appear self-evident, organisations do not necessarily consider the benefits that wellbeing programmes can have on their business and profit margins. However, evidence clearly indicates that the cost of poor mental health in the workplace is substantial.
In Britain, recent research (see Mental Health and Employers: Refreshing the Case for Investment, Deloitte, January 2020) has revealed that the cost of mental ill-health to employers amounts to Stg£45 billion per year. These costs are made up of absence costs, presenteeism (the loss of productivity that occurs when employees come to work, but function at less than full capacity due to ill health), and turnover. Given that Ireland has one of the highest rates of mental health illness in Europe (it ranks joint third out of the 36 countries surveyed in the annual OECD Health at a Glance: Europe 2018 report), it is estimated that the relative cost of mental ill-health to Irish employers is just as high as in Britain.
More broadly, the same OECD report has revealed that mental-health problems cost BUSINESS OF WELLBEING SUMMIT OUTLINES BENEFITS FOR BUSINESSES the Irish economy at least €8.2 billion annually
