NewsTalk
NEWSTALK
Stress is the Number One Main Concern for Middle East Employers
The latest Towers Watson survey on Health Benefits reveals that employers are investing more in the health of their employees as many Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries have implemented new legislation and amendments to laws that deal with mandates for employee healthcare coverage. These changes are already in effect or will come into effect in phases over the next few years and will implicitly impact employers.
Steve Clements, Director Health and Group Benefits at Towers Watson, said: “It was concerning to learn that more than a third (37%) of employers in the UAE stated they did not fully understand the requirements of the new legislation, with the figure rising to 44% and 52% in Saudi Arabia and Qatar respectively”.
Moreover, soaring health insurance prices are clearly a concern to employers – almost half expect medical cost inflation will be over 10%, with 15% expecting prices to rise over 20% over the next three years. The average inflation expectations ranged between 11% and 12%. This is more than double the rate of salary inflation and will make health insurance benefits in their current form unsustainable for some companies.
“Our study showed that, in order to keep the benefit affordable, many companies are already turning to strategies such as cutting back on the scope of cover, or cost sharing with employees. The danger is that this will erode the value of the benefit and so others are turning to potentially more sustainable solutions such as flexible benefits programmes or investing in workforce health initiatives”, added Clements.
By focusing on prevention rather than treatment, employers can not only control healthcare costs, but they can also increase employee productivity. From the point of view of the employee, the development of health and wellness programmes supports their sense of wellbeing and engagement with their employer.
The study also revealed that employers consider stress to be the top lifestyle risk factor of the Middle Eastern workforce. Other risk factors highlighted were lack of physical activity, tobacco use, obesity and unhealthy eating habits.
“The problems associated with most of these risk factors are well documented, but stress is potentially a hidden issue of the region”, commented Steve Clements. “Until now stress has not been widely acknowledged as a serious issue for employers. This may be partly because employees are reluctant to formally report feeling under pressure, and also partly because stress is rarely in itself categorised as a cause of medical claims. However, some of the most prevalent claims, such as cardiovascular disease and musculoskeletal conditions, can be caused by, or exacerbated by, stress”. The top factors causing stress in the workplace were considered to be the erosion of work/life balance, especially with technologies that require employees to be available after working hours, together with unclear or conflicting job expectations and inadequate staffing.
“A robust Healthcare and wellbeing strategy should be high priority for any organisation, and this study confirms that many employers are now starting to embrace this approach. The emergence of stress as a serious health risk factor further reinforces that a holistic approach is needed that goes beyond targeting physical conditions to embrace broader wellbeing issues. This can be a real win-win opportunity for employers and employees alike”, Steve Clements added.
6 | TRAINING MAGAZINE MIDDLE EAST Q3 2015