You've got budget, leadership buy-in and a shortlist of providers. Now comes the hard part: choosing the right one.
Not all employee health benefits deliver equal value. Some look good on paper but fail to reach the people who need them most. Before you sign anything, ask these five questions.
1. Does it address the health moments that actually drive absence?
Somewhere in your organisation right now, someone is struggling with a health condition they have not told anyone about. They are showing up, doing their best, and quietly considering whether they can keep going. This is happening across every sector, at every level.
The numbers make it impossible to ignore. Period pain alone causes absence for 23% of women in the last six months. One in four women consider leaving work due to menopause and one in ten actually do. 17% of women leave employment within five years of childbirth. 90% of people struggling with fertility report feeling depressed. 1 in 5 women develop a mental health problem during the perinatal period. The impact shows up in absence, productivity, retention and legal risk. Each one is measurable. Each one is addressable. If your benefit does not address these specific moments, it is not solving the problem.
2. Will employees actually use it?
A benefit nobody uses is money wasted. The most common reason employees do not seek support is not lack of desire. It is friction. GP referrals, waiting lists, the fear of being seen, the stigma of asking. Look for a benefit that removes every single one of those barriers. Support delivered through an app, available whenever and wherever employees need it, confidential by design, means people get help earlier. And earlier intervention costs the business significantly less than managing the fallout of a problem that has been left too long.
3. Does it support men too?
40% of men have low testosterone, directly impacting mood, energy and performance at work. Men are also significantly more likely to delay seeking help for both physical and mental health issues, shaped by personal behaviour and societal pressure. By the time the problem surfaces, it has often already affected their work, their team and their manager. One Peppy Men's Health user was only diagnosed with prostate cancer because the app prompted him to get a PSA test. That is what early access to specialist support actually looks like. If your benefit does not give men a private, stigma-free space to get expert guidance, you are leaving a significant part of your workforce without meaningful support.
4. Can it prove ROI?
Push every provider on this. Ask for clinical outcome data, not just engagement metrics or satisfaction scores. The unmanaged health conditions sitting across your organisation right now are showing up in four main areas: absence, productivity, retention and legal exposure. Your benefit needs to move the needle on all four.
Peppy clients see menopause-related work impairment drop by 15% within 90 days. Severe menopause symptoms reduce by 58% at 180 days. Employees using Peppy are significantly less likely to take time off. 90% of Mott MacDonald employees rated Peppy 10/10 and 74% felt more positive about their employer as a result.
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority put it plainly: "The cost of the service is insignificant compared to what we spend on absence. It's one of the most effective interventions we've put in place."
If a provider cannot show you measurable clinical outcomes, that tells you everything you need to know.
5. Will it help you retain your best people?
88% of employees would change jobs for fertility support. 1 in 4 women consider leaving work because of menopause. 17% of women leave employment within five years of having a child. These are not edge cases. These are your senior people, your experienced managers, your highest performers, walking out the door because they did not get the support they needed at the moment it mattered most.
At Clifford Chance, Head of Benefits Anna Cotgreave put it this way: "The best employees are going to go where the best benefits and support are and where they feel valued. We recognise there are gaps in the market. With Peppy, we're able to reach employees who would not otherwise get that support."
The right benefit does not just support people through difficult moments. It gives them a reason to stay.
The right health benefit pays for itself. The wrong one just adds to your spend.
If you know this investment is right but need to get Finance, Legal or senior leadership over the line, we have written the guide for you.
Download: Building the Business Case for Employee Health
Peppy's guide gives HR and Benefits leaders the data, the framing and a standalone internal briefing template you can share directly with stakeholders. It covers what is already happening across your organisation, the most common internal blockers and how to overcome them, the legal and tribunal risk case for acting now, and exactly how to build and land the business case internally.
Everything you need to make the argument land, with the people who need to say yes.
Or book a call with Peppy to see how specialist, clinician-led support delivers measurable outcomes for your people and your business.