An overwhelming 99% of employers believe eye tests are just as important or more important than other health checks available for employees, such as medicals and screening, research suggests.

The survey, commissioned by Specsavers Corporate Eyecare, also revealed that 70% of employers now provide eye tests for their employees.

This does, however, still leave 30% of employers who do not provide eyecare, despite the fact that health and safety regulations make it obligatory for almost all employees to have eyecare funded by their employer, and despite the fact that 99% of employers thought eye tests were important.

Laura Butler, key accounts manager for Specsavers Corporate Eyecare, said: “This raises the question of why take-up among employers is not higher. Time and cost are always major drivers in the workplace and this indicates that not all employers are aware of the schemes available that aim to provide high quality but efficient and economic eyecare.”

When asked more directly about cost, the majority of employers (52%) believe that if they were able to provide a full eye examination for their staff for £17, it would represent good value for money.

However, a perhaps surprisingly high 30% did not know if this represented value for money.

Butler continued: “This suggests that employers are not aware of the range of costs and schemes associated with eyecare and are, therefore, not able to make an informed decision on value.”

Once made aware that a full eye examination, costing just £17 per employee, could also help to detect and monitor serious health conditions and illnesses, such as diabetes, risk of stroke and high blood pressure:

• 89% of employers rated it as valuable
• Three quarters (74%) rated it as very good value (or better)
• 60% rated it as extremely valuable
• 53% stated that this made an eye test extremely valuable both to the employee and to the company as a whole

Butler concluded: “When employers are aware of the availability of such good-value eyecare on the market, they embrace it, and that’s good news for their staff.”