Ask most HR leaders whether their business supports employee wellbeing and you’ll get a confident yes. Ask their employees the same question, and the answer looks quite different.
That gap between what employers believe they’re providing and what employees actually feel is significant. It’s one of the biggest findings in our Great Employee Benefits Study for 2026.
And for UK employers, it has direct consequences for retention, engagement and the return on every pound invested in people.
So, without further ado, let’s look at what the data actually shows.
The numbers don’t lie, but they do surprise
When asking UK employers whether they provide strong wellbeing support, 82% said yes. When UK employees were asked whether they feel that support, only 67% agreed.
That 15-point gap isn’t unusual in isolation. Across Europe the average employer/employee wellbeing perception gap is 19 points. But in Finland and Germany it stretches to 30 points. These are not marginal differences. They represent a significant disconnect between investment and experience.
The implications are serious. Employees who don’t feel supported don’t behave like employees who are supported. They disengage. They look elsewhere. And they rarely tell you why on the way out.
It gets sharper when you look at specific areas
The overall wellbeing gap is one thing. But our research reveals that in specific areas of wellbeing provision, the disconnect is even more pronounced.
Physical activity
53% of UK employees say their organisation encourages them to be physically active. 74% of UK employers say they do. That’s a 21-point gap. It’s not explained by a lack of investment.
The more likely explanation: many physical wellness initiatives are offered but not experienced. Think of a gym discount that only applies to one provider near head office. Or a wellness allowance buried in an employee handbook. Or a fitness challenge that ran once and was never repeated. The benefit exists on paper. Yet it doesn’t exist in people’s lives.
Burnout prevention
Only 61% of UK employees feel they receive sufficient support for burnout prevention. Employers report providing this at a considerably higher rate. Given that 1 in 5 European employees say their workload isn’t sustainable in the long term, this is not a theoretical concern.
Burnout is a present reality for a significant segment of the workforce. And the employers most at risk are those who believe their wellbeing programmes are doing more than they are.
Why this matters more than most employers realise
Wellbeing satisfaction doesn’t sit in isolation from the rest of the employment relationship. Our Great Employee Benefits Study for 2026 shows it’s directly connected to two of the most commercially significant employee metrics. These are retention and commitment.
67% of UK employees say they are more likely to commit to their work if their employer prioritises investing in their wellbeing, rather than simply increasing their salary.
That figure has risen from 53% in 2024 and 60% in 2025. A 14-point shift in two years. Wellbeing has overtaken pay as a driver of employee commitment. The trend is accelerating across every age group, with Gen Z leading at 72%.
And while we’re on retention: among UK employees with high benefit satisfaction scores, 86% expect to still be with their employer in two years. Among those with low satisfaction, only 59% expect to stay. That 27-point retention gap is created entirely by the quality of the benefits experience. And that experience starts with wellbeing. Specifically, whether employees feel the support their employer believes it provides.
Employers who treat wellbeing as a cost centre rather than a strategic investment are increasingly out of step with their own workforce.
So, what’s actually going wrong?
The wellbeing perception gap isn’t usually the result of bad intentions or insufficient spending.
It’s a delivery and communication problem. And it shows up in a few consistent patterns.
- Benefits that exist on paper but aren’t accessible in practice. Gym memberships that only work near head office. Mental health support that requires too many steps to access. Wellness allowances with too many restrictions.
- Communication that tells employees what’s available rather than making it easy to use. Our research found that 70% of UK employers say they actively promote benefit use, but only 55% of employees agree.
- Wellbeing programmes designed for the average employee rather than the actual workforce. A one-size offer in a five-generation, multi-location, hybrid workforce will always leave people feeling unsupported.
- No feedback loop. Most UK employers still rely on employee surveys rather than hard utilisation data. They don’t know which benefits are actually being used, and by whom.
- Flexible working arrangements, including remote working, cited by 72% of employees as the most effective burnout prevention tool.
- Benefits that help maintain a healthy work-life balance, ranked second at 48%. This includes fitness benefits, gym memberships and time to be active during the workday.
- Location-flexible gym access, the top fitness benefit for hybrid workers. Chosen by 57% of UK employees and 60% of UK employers.
- Mental health counselling, the most relevant corporate wellbeing offer at 71%. This is followed by preventative health assessments (68%) and time to be active during the workday (65%).
What the data says actually works
Our research is clear on which wellbeing interventions employees say have real impact:
The direction of travel is clear. The most valued wellbeing benefits are no longer simply about gym access. They’re about physical recovery, prevention and mental resilience. This needs to work for every employee, not just those in the right postcode or the right life stage.
75% of UK employees say fitness benefits are important when choosing an employer, yet only 41% currently have access to one.
The gap is solvable. But only if you can see it
The employers closing the wellbeing perception gap share a few things in common. They measure what employees experience, not just what they offer. They use utilisation data to understand what’s working and what isn’t. They make wellbeing benefits genuinely accessible, not just technically available.
And they treat wellbeing as a strategic investment with a measurable return, not a line item to be managed down.
Our Great Employee Benefits Study for 2026 gives UK employers a clear brief. The question is what you do with it.
Want to see how Epassi helps close the wellbeing gap? Start with our Action Guide: From Data to Action. Five practical steps UK employers can take to close the gap between what they offer and what employees actually feel. Download the Action Guide.
Book a call with our team to find out how building a wellbeing benefits experience your employees actually feel can make a difference.
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