Award Winning Workforce Healthcare that Saves you Money
- James Moran
- Jul 2
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 3
The competitive edge for the whole workforce
Investing in workforce healthcare isn’t a new cost, it’s a smarter use of an existing one.
For many employers, introducing healthcare support for the whole workforce can feel like a new budget line, an added cost at a time of real financial pressure.
But the truth is: the cost is already there.
It shows up in rising sickness absence. In staff turnover. In burnout. In “pleasanteeism” the pressure to appear fine, even when you’re not. It shows up in recruitment gaps that take months to fill, and in productivity lost to health issues that go untreated or unsupported.
It’s not neatly labelled on your P&L, but it’s everywhere, hidden in inefficiencies, unmeasured in HR data, and absorbed quietly by teams under strain.
Let’s put some numbers to it:
Absence: Last year’s increase of 1.1 days per employee could cost a business with 500 employees an extra £67,000 this year. (IPPR)
Staff Turnover: The national average turnover rate, combined with a conservative 60% salary replacement cost, could cost over £3,000,000 annually. (CIPD)
NHS Waiting Times: Those 500 employees may face thousands of lost working days waiting for GP appointments, costing over £600,000. (Royal College of GP’s)
What Lime Health advocates isn’t a new spend. It’s a smarter one.
We help advisers support their employer clients to repurpose money already being lost to absence, attrition and underperformance, and reinvest it into measurable, preventative, and inclusive health support, powered by real-time data.
This isn’t about layering on another perk. It’s about redesigning the system:
Where access to care reduces the need for crisis response.
Where early intervention cuts down time off.
Where people feel supported to perform at their best, sustainably.
So, what return could this smarter spend generate with 500 employees?
Absence: Reducing absence by just 0.5 days per employee per year could save £30,000
Staff Turnover: Retaining just 10% more employees by offering a valued health benefit could save £300,000.
NHS Waiting Times: Digital walk-in access can reduce waiting times significantly, reclaiming thousands of lost hours and saving £500,000+ in projected productivity
ROI in workforce health isn’t abstract.
It’s visible in days reclaimed from waiting lists, resignations avoided, roles retained, and teams functioning at full strength more often.
The only thing more expensive than doing this, is not doing it.
To learn how this could work for your business, speak to your employee benefits adviser about Lime Health.
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