Third of small firms catch a cold when ONE worker is ill
ONE in three small firms admit that they have lost money because of a single member of staff taking sick leave, according to research from healthcare company Bupa.
Among companies that have suffered a long absence by a member of staff, 76 per cent said that it had had a ‘significant impact’ on their business.
And half of all companies say their business’s growth would be damaged if a staff member took an extended leave because of illness.
The findings emerged from a survey of 500 small firms carried out for Bupa by polling group OnePoll to assess companies’ interest in employee health.
Small businesses routinely report that a few individuals are key to their operations, particularly in the early stages of their existence.
But despite the significance that illness of one employee can have, few companies appear keen to introduce healthcare as part of their employee benefits.
Almost half (43 per cent) said they would never consider providing healthcare as part of their staff benefits – a finding likely to be unwelcome to Bupa, which sells healthcare packages to businesses as well as individuals.
Richard Norris, small business director at Bupa, said: ‘The impact individual employees can have on the growth of start-ups cannot be underestimated.
‘Even one person on short-term sick leave can have a big effect on business growth and fellow colleagues in a small team.’
On average, companies start to offer healthcare benefits to staff when they have 40 or more employees, though one in ten told researchers that they would wait until they had 100 staff or more before considering such arrangements.