Employee helplines see hike in housing worries calls
13 May 2024
- UK workers calling employee helplines to discuss landlord and tenancy worries was up 95% in 2023 with housing related worries up 51%
- Calls concerning finances increased by 42% and redundancy worries 156%
- Demand for mental health support remains the most common cause of calls
New data released today by Zurich Corporate Risk reveals that housing related issues are fuelling a major increase in workers calling employee assistance helplines. Calls relating to landlord and tenancy issues were up 95% in the year to 2023 with calls concerning housing difficulties up 51%1.
Analysis of calls to Zurich’s employee assistance programme (EAP), which provides support to employees of its corporate risk customers, also found that calls about ‘financial concerns’ had increased by 42%2 on the previous year.
The types of financial issues that workers called about varied from employment concerns to housing and affordability. The data also showed increases in calls around worries linked to redundancy (156%), and employment (33%)3.
The analysis comes as research from the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) revealed that the UK is grappling with a 34% surge in demand for financial help, as cost-of-living challenges and rising debt levels take their toll4.
Despite the rise in calls about financial concerns and housing worries, mental health calls remained the most common cause of calls in 2023 for the second year running, with 40% of calls received from workers linked to mental health5. According to Mental Health UK’s recent report, one in five (20%) of workers have taken time off work because of poor mental health caused by pressure or work-related stress in the past year. The Burnout Report 2024 warned that the UK was on the verge of becoming a “burnt-out nation”.
Zurich’s EAP helpline offers a support service that provides expert advice and compassionate guidance 24/7. Confidential and practical support is available, providing both reactive and preventative care for employees. The service offers important guidance and advice on taking the next steps to resolve issues. The service also provides podcasts and articles, as well as signposting to organisations to help with specific issues. Through the Wisdom App, employees can also access live chat and video calls.
Nick Homer, Head of Group Risk at Zurich UK said: “At a time when employees are struggling with all sorts of personal issues, it is more important than ever that employers offer proactive and preventative support. Our EAP offers guidance to individuals to help them resolve personal issues, which in turn supports their mental wellbeing and helps them to thrive at work.”
About the Employee Assistance Programme
Zurich Corporate Risk’s EAP is operated by Health Assured and offered to Corporate Protection customers. The service provides Group Income Protection customers with structured sessions of face to face, telephone/video or online counselling, plus unlimited access to 24/7 support via its confidential helpline. In addition, comprehensive health and wellbeing support is available via a number of tools, including the My Healthy Advantage.
1Zurich Global EAP report 2022 and 2023
2Zurich Global EAP Report 2022 and 2023
3Zurich Global EAP report 2022 and 2023 redundancy calls- 16 to 41, landlord & tenants- 131 to 256, housing- 152- 229 and employment- 555- 737
4MaPS- Demand for MoneyHelper service surges 34% in first week of 2024 | Money and Pensions Service (maps.org.uk)
5Zurich Global EAP report 2023