CIPD Health and Well-being at Work Report 2025: Key Findings
The CIPD Health and Wellbeing at Work Report 2025 makes for sobering reading. Average employee absence has reached 9.4 days per person per year, the highest level recorded in over a decade. Yet alongside this concerning headline, there is a clear and encouraging shift: more organisations than ever are taking a genuinely strategic approach to employee health and wellbeing. Here are the findings that matter most for HR professionals and business leaders.
The CIPD’s Health and Wellbeing at Work 2025 report, produced in partnership with Simplyhealth, delivers essential insights for HR professionals and business leaders. Based on a survey of 1,101 HR decision-makers, this 24th edition of the report reveals both concerning trends and encouraging progress in how UK organisations are supporting employee health.
Record-Breaking Sickness Absence Levels
The headline finding demands attention: average employee absence has surged to 9.4 days per employee per year. This represents a significant increase from 7.8 days in 2023 and 5.8 days in 2022—the highest level recorded in over a decade.
What the CIPD Health and Wellbeing at Work Report 2025 Tells Us About Mental Health?
The causes of this absence spike are multifaceted. For short-term absence, minor illnesses such as colds, flu and stomach upsets remain the primary culprit, cited by 78% of respondents. However, mental ill health has emerged as the second leading cause of short-term absence (29%), highlighting the growing mental health challenge facing UK workplaces.
For long-term absence (four weeks or longer), the picture shifts considerably. Mental ill health tops the list, with 41% of respondents including it among their top three causes. Musculoskeletal injuries follow at 31%, with stress affecting both short-term (26%) and long-term (28%) absence rates.
The report points to broader societal factors contributing to these trends, including an ageing workforce and a rise in long-term health conditions. More than 8 million people aged 16-64 now report a work-limiting health condition in the UK.
The Strategic Shift: More Organisations Embracing Wellbeing Strategies
Despite the challenging absence figures, there’s encouraging progress on the strategic front. 57% of organisations now have a stand-alone wellbeing strategy, up from 44% in 2020. This signals a shift from reactive to proactive approaches, with organisations designing comprehensive wellbeing activity that addresses positive values, mental health and personal growth.
Leadership Buy-In Is Growing
Perhaps most significantly, wellbeing is climbing the corporate agenda. Nearly three-quarters (74%) of respondents agree that employee wellbeing is on senior leaders’ agendas, compared to just 61% in 2020. Line manager buy-in has similarly improved, rising from 58% in 2020 to 75% in 2025.
This leadership commitment is translating into tangible outcomes. Organisations investing in wellbeing report measurable returns, including improved health and wellbeing (54% of organisations), increased employee engagement (39%), reduced sickness absence (39%) and enhanced performance (38%).
Mental Health: The Ongoing Challenge
Mental health remains the dominant workplace health concern. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of organisations report some stress-related absence over the past year, with this figure rising to 84% in the public sector and 71% in larger private sector organisations.
The Top Causes of Workplace Stress
Heavy workloads stand out as the primary driver of stress-related absence, cited by 41% of organisations experiencing stress-related absence. Management style continues to rank highly among causes, demonstrating the critical role of people management skills. Notably, 57% of organisations include at least one non-work factor among their top three causes of stress-related absence, including personal illness, relationship or family issues and financial concerns.
What Organisations Are Doing
The overwhelming majority of organisations are taking action to support mental health, with only 12% choosing not to implement any measures. The most common interventions include access to counselling services (43%), phased return-to-work programmes and reasonable adjustments (43%) and employee assistance programmes (41%).
However, only 29% of organisations train line managers to support mental health—a significant gap given the evidence showing trained managers are more confident in having sensitive conversations and spotting early warning signs.
The Working From Home Effect
The report provides valuable insights into how remote working affects employee health and productivity. The findings challenge some assumptions about homeworking.
Positive Outcomes
Among organisations with employees who work from home, 36% report that sickness absence has decreased as a result, compared to just 16% reporting an increase. Productivity shows a similar positive trend, with 33% of respondents reporting improvements versus 16% reporting decline.
Homeworking supports health in several ways: reducing the spread of infectious illness, offering rehabilitation opportunities following illness or injury, and helping those with health conditions better manage their symptoms at work.
The Mental Health Consideration
Despite these benefits, there are additional risks to manage. Respondents are significantly more likely to report that mental health issues have increased rather than decreased among homeworkers. Yet only 17% of organisations with homeworkers are taking steps to identify mental ill health among remote staff—highlighting a significant gap in support provision.
Wellbeing Benefits and Budgets
Counselling services and employee assistance programmes remain the most commonly offered benefits, particularly in larger organisations. Occupational sick pay schemes are also widely provided, with 66% of organisations offering them to all employees.
Budget Pressures
Finding budget for wellbeing amid rising business costs is the top challenge for 39% of organisations. This concern is particularly acute in the public and non-profit sectors, where 52% and 57% respectively cite it as their primary challenge.
Despite these pressures, optimism remains. Around three in ten respondents (29%) expect their wellbeing budget to increase over the next 12 months, with just 9% predicting a decrease. Cost-effectiveness has become the primary factor organisations consider when selecting health-related benefits, cited by 56% of respondents.
Supporting Employees Through Life Stages
The report reveals a growing focus on supporting employees at different life stages. The most commonly addressed areas include caring responsibilities for young children (75% of organisations), bereavement support (67%) and chronic health conditions and disabilities (67%).
This lifecycle approach reflects recognition that employee health needs vary throughout their career, and effective wellbeing strategies must accommodate these changes.
Occupational Health and Sick Pay
69% of organisations provide occupational health services, rising to 86% among large organisations with 250 or more employees. However, there’s scope for more strategic use of these services—only 31% use them to manage health risks and 29% to develop wellbeing strategies.
Views on Statutory Sick Pay
The report captures strong views on sick pay provision. 62% of respondents believe Statutory Sick Pay (currently £118.75 per week) is too low and should be increased. Additionally, 75% agree that SSP should be payable on a flexible basis to support phased returns to work—particularly important for those managing ongoing health conditions.
Key Takeaways from the CIPD Health and Well-being at Work Report 2025 for HR and Business Leaders
The CIPD 2025 report provides a clear roadmap for organisations looking to improve employee health outcomes.
Develop a strategic approach: Move beyond reactive measures to create a comprehensive wellbeing strategy with senior leadership buy-in and clear organisational responsibilities.
Prioritise mental health: With mental ill health driving both short and long-term absence, investment in mental health support—including manager training—is essential.
Address the causes of stress: Heavy workloads remain the top driver of stress-related absence. Review workload management and ensure managers are equipped to support their teams.
Support homeworkers proactively: While remote working offers health benefits, organisations need robust policies to identify and support mental health among remote staff.
Make the business case: Wellbeing investment delivers returns across engagement, performance and absence reduction. Use data to demonstrate value and secure budget.
Consider life stage support: Employees’ health needs evolve throughout their careers. Design interventions that support people through different life stages.
The CIPD Health and Wellbeing at Work Report 2025 makes one thing clear: wellbeing can no longer be treated as an add-on.
The full CIPD Health and Wellbeing at Work 2025 report is available from the CIPD website. For organisations looking to benchmark their practices and develop evidence-based wellbeing strategies, this annual survey remains an invaluable resource.