Last year, Poles spent 276 million days on sick leave. For companies, absenteeism means higher operating costs and decreased team productivity. It is also a signal that employees’ psychophysical health requires support. This is possible as part of comprehensive wellbeing management in organisations, the importance of which increasingly directs the interest of teams towards modern benefits in the areas of health and development. For companies, investing in wellbeing brings benefits in the form of greater engagement and lower turnover.
According to the latest data from the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS), in 2024, Poles spent 276 million days on sick leave, which is an increase of 3 million compared to 2023. Mental and behavioural disorders accounted for 12% of sickness absence (30 million days). They resulted in a similar period of absence from work as absences due to common respiratory diseases (13%), i.e. seasonal infections. The average length of sick leaves was 10.83 days.1 The growing scale of absenteeism is a serious burden on the economy and companies struggling with declining productivity and increasing costs related to absences.
Comprehensive shaping of wellbeing allows treating a healthy and active lifestyle as a remedy to contemporary challenges: the growing level of lifestyle diseases, an ageing society or increasingly long professional activity. Modern non-financial benefits that meet employee expectations and the needs resulting from the post-crisis situation, but also polycrisis, including geopolitical, economic and climatic crises, are a significant support for employers – says Piotr Szostak, Strategy and Product Development Managing Director at Benefit Systems.
According to the Randstad Workmonitor 2024 survey, 83% of employees consider mental health and wellbeing support to be important2.
The tool of tomorrow
In 2024, 21% of companies participating in the global WTW – 2024 Wellbeing Diagnostic Survey saw employee wellbeing as a cornerstone of their HR strategy. In the next three years, this percentage is expected to increase to 46%3. HR professionals from the US and the UK give even higher priority to the wellbeing of teams and define it as a priority of the actions taken4.
New solutions that combine the possibility of measuring one’s wellbeing and lifestyle parameters, defining goals related to it, and then achieving them thanks to the possibility of expert consultations or access to a broad knowledge base are appearing on the market. These functionalities are combined in the Multi.Life Programme, a sister solution to the popular MultiSport sports card.
When creating Multi.Life, our goal was to develop a comprehensive benefit that would allow us to recognise wellbeing needs and provide tools to fulfil them. This requires a personalised approach and expert knowledge, which is why Multi.Life is now transforming into a personal wellbeing assistant. Using AI technology, it helps to truly transform one’s lifestyle. This is a completely new approach to prevention and caring for employee wellbeing – emphasises Piotr Szostak.
Intuitive navigation around the platform is enabled by a simple interface, arranged by the following layout: Discover, Ask, Consult and Achieve. It not only brings together all available functionalities and resources but also calls to action. The digital wellbeing assistant will indicate the tools and content appropriate to individual needs (the Multi.Life library currently has over 4,500 materials and over 200 audio and video courses). This is a feature that uses large language models designed in a chat format that leverages expert-verified information collected within the platform. How does it work in practice?
Let’s assume an employee wants to take care of their metabolic health. With Multi.Life they will arrange for appropriate laboratory tests to be performed and will consult with a dietician to appropriately prepare changes to eating habits. They will learn the caloric value and nutritional content of their meals by simply taking pictures of what they eat. The assistant will also suggest which educational materials created by experts to use, and thanks to the connection with the MultiSport application, it will indicate physical activity to perform and the nearest fitness club. To change habits, we need to lower the entry threshold, make it easier to acquire knowledge and use it – says Piotr Szostak.
Multi.Life also continues to provide the option of arranging online consultations with development, financial and personal trainers, as well as a psychologist, dietitian and language teacher. As a result of integration with the Wellbee platform, a leader in the field of psychological support and self-development, the database of available specialists will soon be expanded by over 300 psychodietitians. Strengthening these areas is a response to current needs. Market research shows that mental health problems are the second biggest health concern of Poles5.
Development is equally important
Wellbeing is a system of interconnected vessels in the areas of health and development. What is important in the case of the second aspect, 44% of participants in the Randstad Workmonitor 2025 survey would not accept a job offer without the opportunity to develop skills that will be important in the future, while 41% would leave an organisation which does not provide them with the opportunity to learn and develop. Compared to 2024, this percentage increased by 12%6. Investments in the competences of employees are not only a response to their expectations towards employers but also translate into the position of enterprises. 84% of employees in the world’s top performing organisations say they receive the training they need to do their jobs well7.
From the perspective of HR specialists, Multi.Life is a comprehensive employee health and development management system that transforms their traditional role into a strategic wellbeing partner that supports long-term development, wellbeing, efficiency and team engagement. Ultimately, Multi.Life will also enable recommending development paths and courses to employees to complete – explains Piotr Szostak.
Wellbeing needs to be measured
70% of leaders believe that the new role of HR departments is to fully unleash human potential8. Meeting this challenge, combined with the pressure for efficiency, requires a tool for ongoing measurement of wellbeing.
Measuring the level of wellbeing in its various areas allows us to recognise needs and design adequate strategies. That is why the Multi.Life Programme operates with the Wellbeing Score, which allows us to measure the pulse of wellbeing on a company-wide and individual basis for each employee. It also allows us to assess the effectiveness of the actions taken – suggests Piotr Szostak.
The individual test is publicly available and can be taken at: https://badanie-dobrostanu.multilife.com.pl/.
Wider dimension
Attention to employee wellbeing is consistent with the concept of sustainable human development proposed by Deloitte in the Global Human Capital Trends 2023 report9. It assumes the value to society that organisations bring as responsible employers. Importantly, also with the future in mind, even in the event of a change of job. It thus gives companies responsibility for the health and wellbeing of their employees and the development of their skills so that there is gradual improvement in these areas, also on a macro-social scale. The thesis that there is room to consolidate such an approach is supported by the fact that only 43% of employees claim that after the end of cooperation their organisations left them in a better situation than at its beginning10.
The fact that insufficient care for employee wellbeing results in global losses is evidenced by estimates from the World Health Organisation. According to the WHO, the consequences of this situation reach the level of about 2.5 trillion dollars per year11. Employees in companies that support their overall wellbeing admit that they are less likely to change jobs (69%) or be exposed to burnout (71%). At the same time, they are five times more likely to recommend a job at the company that employs them and show a five times higher level of trust in the organisation’s leaders. They are also three times more committed to doing their job reliably. In turn, teams that feel they are operating in organisations that care about wellbeing build greater customer engagement and profitability12.
The fact that insufficient care for employee wellbeing results in global losses is evidenced by estimates from the World Health Organisation. According to the WHO, the consequences of this situation reach the level of about 2.5 trillion dollars per year11. Employees in companies that support their overall wellbeing admit that they are less likely to change jobs (69%) or be exposed to burnout (71%). At the same time, they are five times more likely to recommend a job at the company that employs them and show a five times higher level of trust in the organisation’s leaders. They are also three times more committed to doing their job reliably. In turn, teams that feel they are operating in organisations that care about wellbeing build greater customer engagement and profitability12.
1 Social Insurance Institution (ZUS), Department of Statistics and Actuarial Forecasts, January 2025.
2 Randstad Workmonitor 2024 global survey: Ambitions Redefined
3 WTW, 2024 Wellbeing Diagnostic Survey
4 WorkBuzz – The State of Employee Engagement 2024/25
5 IPSOS Health Service 2024
6 Randstad Workmonitor 2025 global survey: The new workplace standard
7 IBM, The value of training, accessed December 2023
8 Building tomorrow’s skills-based organization, Deloitte, 2022
9 2023 Global Human Capital Trends report
10 2024 Global Human Capital Trends research
11 World Economic Forum, 6 global employers on how to improve workplace mental health,
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/01/6-global-employers-on-how-to-improve-workplace-mental-health/12https://www.gallup.com/workplace/390776/percent-feel-employer-cares-wellbeing-plummets.aspx
Benefit Systems has been operating on the Polish market for over two decades and is one of the leaders in providing non-financial benefits that support employee wellbeing. The company is the creator of the MultiSport Programme, which enables physical activity in sports facilities throughout the country. Its portfolio also includes the MyBenefit cafeteria platform and the MultiLife wellbeing programme. For several years now, the company’s sports offer has been developed on foreign markets, including the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Turkey. The Benefit Systems Group also operates fitness clubs (in Poland it is responsible for Zdrofit, Fabryka Formy, FitFabric, Fitness Academy, Organic Fitness, My Fitness Place networks; in other markets it manages over 70 facilities). An important area of Benefit Systems activities is the promotion of an active lifestyle at every stage of life, which is why the company implements initiatives supporting physical activity of children, adults, and seniors, also as part of the MultiSport Foundation. Since 2018, Benefit Systems has been part of the global B Corp initiative, bringing together companies operating and engaging in solving the most important social problems. More information can be found at benefitsystems.pl/en.