If you run a firm of 30 people, you probably know everyone's name and whose turn it is to put the kettle on. What a small firm is less likely to have is the kind of health support a big employer lays on. In CIPD's 2025 survey, smaller private firms were about half as likely as large ones to offer health screening to all their staff [1].
The headline figure
The CIPD's 2025 Health and wellbeing at work survey asked 1,101 HR staff and managers in UK organisations what they offer their people [1]. Among private sector firms, it compared small and medium sized employers (2 to 249 staff, 446 firms) with large ones (250 or more staff, 376 firms). The survey ran in March and April 2025.
In CIPD's survey, 23% of the smaller private firms offered health screening to all their employees. Among the large private firms, it was 47% [1]. So the smaller firms were about half as likely to offer it to everyone.
1,101
Respondents to CIPD's 2025 survey
23%
smaller private firms offering health screening to all staff
47%
large private firms offering health screening to all staff
The figure only counts benefits offered to all employees. If a firm offers screening only to some of its staff, that firm isn't counted here. Half the organisations that answered had 250 or more staff, so these are figures from CIPD's survey, not a count of every small firm in the UK.
It isn't only screening
Screening isn't the only place where large firms were ahead. The chart shows six other benefits from the same table, again for private firms and again counting only what was offered to all employees [1].
Employee assistance programmes were offered to all staff by 39% of the smaller firms and 78% of the large ones. Access to physiotherapy and other therapies was 21% against 46%, and private medical insurance 20% against 40% [1].
The gap varies. In relative terms, access to a counselling service is the closest of these (46% against 79%). Health cash plans (17% against 40%) and 24/7 access to a virtual GP (23% against 54%) show the widest relative gap: smaller firms were less than half as likely to offer them. The large firms were well ahead on all seven, and ahead on nearly every other benefit in CIPD's table [1]. These figures show what firms offer. They don't tell us how many staff use it.
The same pattern shows up in how firms plan for staff health. CIPD found that very large organisations (1,000 or more staff) are three times more likely than very small employers (fewer than 50 staff) to have a stand-alone wellbeing strategy [1].
The very smallest firms
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) asked a related question in its own 2024 survey of employers in Great Britain. 18% of employers with 2 to 4 staff said they provide nothing to prevent ill health or improve wellbeing. That compares with 6% of employers with 10 to 24 staff, and less than 1% of those with 100 or more [2].
That word "provide" covers a lot. The DWP counts things as light as health and safety training or guidance. So a firm that provides something may be doing very little.
Why small firms offer less
In a 2018 survey of 500 small and medium sized employers, the most common barriers to offering health and wellbeing support were lack of capital (52%), lack of expertise to know what support to invest in (49%), and lack of time or resources to put policies in place (49%) [3].
That survey comes with some big limits. It was carried out before the pandemic, it only included firms with 10 or more staff, and it wasn't weighted to represent all small firms in the country. It was published in 2023, but the data are from 2018.
What the government is saying
In September 2026, the government's Keep Britain Working update called small and medium sized employers "the acid test" [4]. It also said "This is not a spending programme" [4]. It points to tests already under way, such as Hull City Council's work with Latus on a buyer's pool to help small firms access occupational health services, and a plan for a phased roll out is due ahead of the 2027 Spending Review [4].
For now, these are tests and plans. Any new government spending is expected to be limited, and there's no new legal duty for employers.
What this means for you
None of this says small firms don't care about their people. What CIPD's survey shows is that big firms offer health support to all their staff far more often than smaller ones do.
That's the gap we work in. We test your team at work. Each person gets their results explained, checked by our team, with something to take to their GP if they need to. It can sit alongside an EAP, a cash plan or insurance if you already have one. We're not saying screening cuts absence, and a result on its own isn't a diagnosis. What your team gets is a clear, explained picture and a next step if they need one.
If you're the one at work who'd like this, and someone else signs it off, feel free to send them this page.
Common questions
Do small firms offer health screening to staff?
In CIPD's 2025 survey, 23% of private firms with 2 to 249 staff offered health screening to all their employees, against 47% of private firms with 250 or more staff [1]. Firms offering it to only some staff aren't counted.
Why do small businesses offer less health support?
The figures we have are from 2018, before the pandemic, in a survey of 500 small and medium sized firms with 10 or more staff that wasn't weighted to represent all small firms. The most common barrier was lack of capital (52%) [3].
Is there government funding for workplace health in small firms?
The September 2026 Keep Britain Working update says "This is not a spending programme" [4]. It sets out tests and plans, expects any new government investment to be limited, and creates no new legal duty for employers.
References
- Sinclair, A., & Suff, R. (2025). *Health and wellbeing at work*. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
- Department for Work and Pensions. (2025). *DWP employer survey 2024: Health and disability in the workplace*. London: Author.
- Burge, P., Lu, H., Smith, P., & Koch, N. (2023). *Incentivising SME uptake of health and wellbeing support schemes: Summary*. London: Department for Work and Pensions.
- Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Business and Trade, & Department of Health and Social Care. (2026). *Keep Britain Working: A national growth opportunity, September 2026*. London: Author.
