By Jonathan Ormsby
As employees are striving to live more holistically healthy lives, they are keeping on top of their health—and that includes their eye health. With issues like blurry vision, eyestrain, and headaches negatively impacting their work performance and productivity, it’s important for employers to offer health benefits that can positively impact eye health and overall wellness.
Employee Focus on Holistic Health
Health is not just physical, but also mental and emotional, and employees are taking care of themselves holistically as nearly all (96%) of those surveyed say they are likely to visit a healthcare provider in the next 12 months, most likely including a primary care provider, dentist, or eyecare professional.1
Also, nine out of ten employees are partaking in other healthy activities quite regularly, including eating healthy foods, exercising, meditating and yoga, or visiting a mental health professional. 1 With these findings, we are seeing that employees have taken a greater interest in their own health and are actively engaging in healthy habits.
Impact of Vision on Work
However, it has been found that employees are continuing to report issues with their eyes. According to the 2023 Transitions Workplace Wellness Survey, 78% of employees report issues with their eyes negatively impacting their productivity and performance at work—eyestrain and blurry vision, in particular, can lead to many disturbances. Nearly half (49%) of employees cite eyestrain/eye fatigue as negatively impacting their productivity and performance. 45% of employees cite digital eyestrain symptoms like headaches—up six percentage points since the 2022 Transitions Workplace Wellness Survey—and over a third (38%) cite blurry vision—up two percentage points since 2022—as negative impacts on their productivity and performance.
The Simple Perk That Could Help
There is an easy but effective way that employers can use to help alleviate these negative issues that plague employees. Encouragement to take breaks regularly to rest the eyes is the top preferred workplace wellness initiative. From those surveyed in the 2023 workplace wellness survey, 56% of respondents prefer their employers encourage them to take eye breaks instead of financial assistance for fitness (39%), financial assistance for therapy sessions or mental health activities (34%), catered lunches with healthy food options (33%), meditation breaks (32%) and standing desks (23%).
This can be as simple as encouraging the 20-20-20 rule, which is taking a 20 second break every 20 minutes to look at something 20 feet away. (American Optometric Association, https://www.aoa.org/healthy-eyes/eye-and-vision-conditions/computer-vision-syndrome?sso=y).
Not only can employers focus on promoting eye breaks in their organizations, but offering premium vision benefits to their employees is another way to positively impact employee health. The eyes can potentially offer a view into a person’s whole-body health—which can also encourage employees to get their eyes examined, as 95% of them say they are likely to schedule a comprehensive eye exam in the next year if they knew overall health conditions like diabetes, heart disease or brain tumors could be diagnosed with an eye exam.1
When using their vision benefits, 60% of employees report concerns about their eye health as a motivator to visit an eyecare provider, while 58% report prescription updates as a motivator and 43% say upgrading their lenses and frames motivates them.1
Focus on Family
Employees are also attending to the health of their children’s eyes—with whole body health maintenance as a driving factor. The survey found 62% of employees with children are very likely to take them to get a comprehensive eye exam within the next 12 months. The top reasons that influence employee desire to seek care from an eyecare provider for their children include:
- 63% say the early diagnosis of eye disease or health conditions
- 58% say dry, irritated eyes
- 55% say light sensitivity
- 54% say eyestrain from digital device usage
Interest in Premium Eyewear Options is on the Rise
Aligning with employees’ increased focus on holistic health and likelihood to attend their annual comprehensive eye exams, among those employees who wear eyeglasses and have vision benefits, nearly all (95%) are willing to pay above what their insurance covers for premium lens benefits, including scratch-resistant lenses, anti-reflective or no glare coatings, photochromic lenses, UV blocking, and premium lens design including a sharper, wider field of view.1
Nearly half (46%) of employees are willing to pay above what their insurance covers for photochromic lenses, particularly Transitions® lenses.1 Additionally, 73% of employees say they are much or somewhat more likely to enroll in a vision plan that offers Transitions lenses when they are armed with the knowledge of their protective benefits.
Among all those employees who wear eyeglasses and have vision benefits, 60% say it is extremely important to have authentic Transitions lenses covered by their company’s vision plan versus other photochromic lens brands.
With seven out of 10 employees indicating that protecting their eye health is more important today than it was before the global pandemic—employers who offer premium vision benefits that cover both annual eye exams and eyewear options that employees both want and need can help catch the eye of employees.
HR Checklist
With technology taking up a large space in our professional lives, eye care should be a fundamental benefit for every employee.
- Employees continue to seek care for their holistic health, and their children’s holistic health, and this includes their vision.
- The increase in employee likeliness to receive a comprehensive eye exam and their interest in seeking care for light sensitivity emphasizes the need for employers to offer premium vision benefits with premium lens options.
- The Transitions Workplace Wellness Survey shows that employees are willing to invest in premium lens options, like Transitions lenses, which offer always-on protection.
- Vision care can be key in helping employees achieve holistic health and improve their productivity.
Senior Manager, U.S. Managed Care
Transitions Optical
jormsby@transitions.com
