Companies that maintain health and productivity management programs despite the recession are experiencing lower health care and disability costs and less absenteeism than their counterparts that cut back, according to a joint survey by Watson Wyatt Worldwide and the National Business Group on Health.

But most employers are doing little or nothing to relieve the stress many employees experience due to long hours at work, a lack of work/life balance, and fear they may lose their jobs, the 2009/2010 Staying@Work report found.

“Investments in health and productivity management paid off for employers that stayed the course despite the recession, while employers that cut back on these programs saw the return on that investment shrink,” observed Shelly Wolff, Stamford, Conn.-based national leader of health and productivity consulting at Arlington, Va.-based Watson Wyatt Worldwide.

In particular, companies with the most effective health and productivity management programs had medical cost trends averaging 1.2 percentage points lower than employers that dropped or cut back their programs.

In addition, companies with the most effective health and productivity management programs had average lost days due to unplanned absence of 3.0 days per employee, compared with 4.8 days for companies with less effective programs. Companies with effective health and productivity management programs also reported losing one day less per employee due to disabilities compared with firms with less effective programs.

Finally, organizations with the most effective health and productivity programs had average returns to shareholders during the past five years of 14.8% vs. a decline in average shareholder return of 10.1% for companies with less effective programs.

The survey also found that although excessive work hours, lack of work/life balance, and fears about job loss are beginning to take their toll on the American work force in terms of higher utilization of health care and disability benefits and employee assistance programs, most employers are not directly addressing these stress factors, according to Ms. Wolff.

Forty percent of employers reported higher use of health care benefits due to increased employee stress, 35% cited a higher incidence of disability claims, and nearly half indicated a marked increase in the use of employee assistance programs.

Although 78% of employers responding to the survey cited excessive work hours as a leading cause of stress among their employees, just 21% of them said they are taking steps to address stress.

Moreover, although 68% of employers cited lack of work/life balance as a leading employee stress producer, only 38% said they are taking action to combat this stress factor.

Meanwhile, only 41% of employers said they are addressing employees' fear of job loss, which was cited by 67% of employers as a leading cause of employee stress.

If employers do not address these stress factors, the productivity gains they've been experiencing could be lost, warned Helen Darling, president of Washington-based NBGH, which cosponsored the survey.

“It's clear that stress has been growing for several years, but it's hit a new high exacerbated by the financial meltdown,” she noted. “A little bit of stress is actually good, but we're way beyond the level of it being motivating. It will be very hard to recover economically if we don't find better ways to help employees address stress.”

Fortunately, employers, for the most part, continue to invest in health risk assessments and biometric testing and lifestyle behavior change programs which may, in some cases, address some stressors, according to Ms. Wolff.

“The whole issue of how to manage stress is definitely a tough one,” she said.

The survey included 352 responses from employers with 1,000 or more employees who were polled during June, July and August. To view the full 2009/2010 Staying@Work report, visit www.watsonwyatt.com.