Men's health is now a boardroom topic. With the Deputy Prime Minister holding responsibility for men and boys policy, and more than 60,000 men diagnosed with prostate cancer every year without a workplace cancer programme to catch it, supporting men's health at work has moved from a nice to have to a measurable driver of retention, performance and risk.
This blog explains why benefits leaders should act now, what the data says about men's health in the workplace, and what good support looks like in 2026.
Men's health affects workplace performance because unmanaged physical and mental health symptoms drive absence, productivity loss and attrition. Men typically delay seeking help until a crisis point, which means employers feel the cost long before the individual asks for support.
Three Peppy Men's Health statistics make the case:
Your male employees believe they are fine. The clinical data says otherwise. That gap shows up in absence figures, attrition data and the leadership pipeline long before it appears in any wellbeing survey.
Men underuse workplace benefits because most programmes depend on people opting in, raising their hand and starting a conversation. For many men, that ask is the barrier.
Across every dataset on help-seeking behaviour, the pattern is consistent. Men wait. They wait for a performance dip. They wait for a relationship to break down. They wait for a diagnosis that cannot be ignored. By the time they reach out, the cost to the individual and the organisation is already significant.
This is not a personal failing. It is a cultural pattern. The way men have been taught to think about health is itself a health risk, and bravado is not something an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) can fix on its own.
The business cost shows up in four places:
Replacing experienced employees is expensive. Retaining them starts with support they will actually use.
Mental health support has become shorthand for men's health support. It should not be. A credible men's health offer covers:
Most benefit programmes do not cover this spectrum. Most competitors in the employer benefits market do not offer a dedicated men's health service at all. Ignoring this is, in practical terms, ignoring half your workforce.
Effective men's health provision combines clinical access with cultural enablement. Practical actions worth auditing now:
Employers have more influence over men's health outcomes than most realise. Manager language, colleague dynamics and whether asking for help carries a social cost are all decisions an organisation makes, whether consciously or not.
Read the headlines and men's health looks like a risk register. Read the policy direction and it looks like the opposite. Men's health now has political momentum behind it. Employers who move first set the standard. Employers who wait will be responding to attrition, tribunal risk and Glassdoor reviews instead of shaping their workforce strategy.
Earlier intervention reduces absence. Confidential support keeps senior men engaged. A credible men's health offer strengthens recruitment, retention and the leadership pipeline. Benefits leaders who build the foundation now will spend the next five years compounding that advantage.
How many men engage with workplace wellbeing benefits?
Engagement varies, but men typically use wellbeing benefits at a lower rate than women. The issue is rarely awareness. It is design, confidentiality and whether the benefit reaches men before a crisis.
What is a men's health MOT?
A men's health MOT is a structured check of key health indicators, including blood pressure, weight, lifestyle factors and symptoms, designed to help men understand where they actually stand and what action to take.
Is men's health support only for older employees?
No. Fatherhood, fertility, mental health, workplace stress, sexual health and metabolic risk affect men across every career stage. Support needs to span the full working life.
On 11 June 2026, ahead of Men's Health Week, Peppy is hosting a session for HR, Reward and Benefits leaders on the data, the clinical evidence and the practical framework behind supporting men's health at scale. You will leave with the confidence to make the internal case for investment and the actions to build a workforce culture where men engage before a crisis.