Creating Mental Health Benefits For Employees That They'll Actually Use
Companies are increasingly offering mental health benefits for employees, but many of them are not used. Learn why.
Key takeaways
98% of mid-to-large companies offer employee assistance programs (EAPs), but only 4% of employees use them annually — the gap is not about availability but about access, awareness and trust.
The top five barriers to utilization are lack of awareness (47%), stigma (43%), confidentiality concerns (40%), benefits complexity (39%) and limited resources (33%), per a 2025 EBRI survey.
Mental health support must be integrated into workplace culture and the broader employee experience, not siloed as a standalone benefit.
With one in five adults living with mental health issues, companies are increasingly offering mental health benefits for employees. From EAPs to mental health days to mindfulness apps to bringing your dog to work, employers are investing in employee well-being. Despite these efforts, these offerings don't always hit the mark.
It’s not that employees don’t want them — they do. But the statistics show a significant gap between what is offered and what is used. For example, 98% of mid to large companies offer employee assistance programs, but only 4% of employees use them each year.
In some cases, the gap may be caused by a misperception between management and employees on the worth of what is offered. For example:
In Prudential’s 2025 Benefits & Beyond study, 97% of employers say employee well-being is important, but only 63% of employees say their benefits help them address their well-being.
Of the 59% of employers in the study that said they offer an employee assistance program, 68% are satisfied with the program. In contrast, less than one-third of employees said they have tried using it.
The disconnect can also stem from a mismatch of expectations. Today’s employees have increased their expectations of what workplace mental health support should look like. While the specific ideal benefits roster will vary based on each organization’s demographics and needs, employees are prioritizing flexibility, convenience and personalized support. They also want to address the root cause of issues, not just the symptoms.
Employers are invested in mental health benefits for employees
Employers want to get this right, too. With a mental health crisis underway, organizations understand that supporting mental well-being not only helps employees in their personal lives but will directly correlate to business outcomes.
A McKinsey study found that investing in mental health can lead to $11.7 trillion in global economic value. Additional research connects employee well-being with decreased absenteeism, increased productivity and greater creativity. Having a mentally healthy workforce creates a competitive advantage, so it’s not surprising that 97% of large employers offer mental health services.
With that significant investment coupled with the significant need for mental health support, employers must help ensure the benefits they offer are useful, accessible, understandable and, most importantly, that their employees are actually taking advantage of these programs.
Getting the right slate of benefits is (only) the first step
When companies evaluate which benefits employees want and are most likely to use, they often rely on utilization rates to identify the most in-demand programs. However, utilization rates don’t always tell the entire story. That rate can be low, even when the need is high, says Amy Freshman, senior director, global HR at ADP. While tracking is an important indicator, it’s not the only one.
“Try engaging with employees, holding round tables and perhaps sending anonymous surveys. Organizations should also be benchmarking, talking to other companies, especially in their industry or a similar type of work, to compare how employees are leveraging different programs. If you want to know what is meaningful to employees, you need to ask them.”
Although employees want specific benefits offerings, such as flexible work days and access to counseling, they also want more, explains Freshman. “Employees today expect a rich offering of mental health resources and support, not just by way of benefits (i.e., through formal offerings through health care providers) but within the culture itself.”
Freshman adds that support for mental health shouldn’t be siloed but should be integrated in all aspects of an employee’s engagement with the company. “Employees are often looking for the ‘caring workplace culture’ that is present and alive within day-to-day interactions with their peers and across the leadership team.”
Learn how to create positive employee experiences for better business outcomes
The gap between benefit offerings and use
Sometimes, however, even when a company thoughtfully cultivates mental health benefits for employees, those offers can still be underutilized if the mental health benefits aren’t accessible or are perceived that way. The 2025 EBRI Employer Mental Health Survey noted that some of the top utilization barriers include:
47% - Lack of awareness
43% - Stigma around mental health
40% - Confidentiality concerns
39% - Complexity of benefits
33% - Limited resources or budget
Exploring the main barriers
Lack of awareness
Freshman says a benefit can be simply forgotten because it wasn’t needed initially. “New employees may have learned about programs during onboarding, but if they weren’t used initially, employees may not remember later that it’s available. Continue educating employees on the wide array of offerings is the starting point,” she said.
Stigma around mental health
Despite more acceptance of discussing mental health at work, numerous studies show that employees still worry that they’ll be viewed negatively. Freshman says that concern shows the importance of shifting the focus beyond specific benefits offered to how the benefits are communicated and, even more importantly, how mental health is addressed in the workplace.
Confidentiality concerns
Despite confidentiality provisions, employees still worry that if they seek mental health support, the news will not remain private. This feeds into the concern about the stigma regarding mental health and can reflect a lack of trust in the organization and its leaders.
Complexity of benefits
Employees may know they have mental health benefits, but don’t know how to find and enroll in them. A 2025 report from the National Alliance on Mental Illness found that only 50% of employees knew how to access the benefits offered. In Prudential’s report, one in 10 said the benefits were too complex. Just as organizations should have ongoing conversations with employees to increase awareness, they should also ensure that employees understand what the benefits are and how to use them.
Limited resources or budget
Employees may not have the flexible schedules for traditional in-person mental health appointments, or they may not have the funds required for additional coverage. Offering that flexibility, virtual appointments or lower cost alternatives can help.
Creating a culture to support mental health benefits for employees
For mental health benefits to truly do the job of helping employee well-being, they must be used. It’s not just the specific offerings available, but how easy it is for employees to know about them, seek them out if they don’t know, put them to work and feel comfortable with that entire process.
The offering part is (relatively) easy. It’s the implementation that’s hard. That’s because, for many organizations, it requires a shift in culture to normalize and integrate the support of mental health into everyday life.
That shift starts with the leaders, Freshman says. “Leaders should be leading by example. How they act, what they say and how they show up to their teams has a direct impact on how their team members see the company.”
This could include talking to employees, either individually or in groups, about the overall mental health and the benefits offered.“ This approach will also help to develop a sense of comfort for the team members to reach out when they might not be okay, or who just need some support,” Freshman says.
She adds that in addition to discussing specific benefits, organizations can reinforce mental health support by keeping the conversation going. “Mention it, keep it visual, such as with office signage or perhaps a quarterly education segment on all of the offerings.”
Sharing personal stories is also a powerful way to connect, she says. “If anyone is willing to share stories, those are usually the most powerful. ‘Here was what I was struggling with, here is what I did, who I reached out to, the program I leveraged and got me through.’”
Organizations that successfully support employee mental health keep the topic at the forefront, Freshman adds. “They celebrate it, encourage it, point people to resources and leaders leading by example.”
Make mental health part of the employee experience
What’s more, these organizations don’t just think about mental health in a vacuum. It’s baked into the management process. Leaders know that offering a mental health day does not negate the impact of a toxic work environment, and they focus on employee well-being as part of their leadership responsibilities. This could mean training (or realignment) to ensure leaders at all levels demonstrate the positive skills and behaviors to grow the organization in the right direction.
As leaders build an organizational culture that reflects caring, trust and openness, it enhances psychological safety, so employees can feel more comfortable coming forward for mental health support.
Freshman says that as employers look at making mental health benefits more accessible, they should think about mental health as part of the broader employee experience. “Whether managing issues at home and/or at work, the employee experience is strongly impacted by how ‘safe’ they feel at work and to bring their whole selves to work.”
As a result, she adds, the focus on mental health should start from the recruiting process to day one and continue through onboarding and ongoing. “Mental health is part of the broader employee experience and could make or break someone’s tenure, loyalty, and retention efforts, let alone productivity.”
Mental health benefits can only make an impact when employees feel supported, informed and comfortable using them. Learn how compliance can help create a workplace built on trust, fairness and psychological safety in this recent webinar.
Learn how to create positive employee experiences for better business outcomes
Frequently asked questions
What are the biggest barriers to mental health benefit utilization?
According to the 2025 EBRI Employer Mental Health Survey, the top five barriers employers identified are lack of awareness (47%), stigma around mental health (43%), confidentiality concerns (40%), complexity of benefits (39%) and limited resources or budget (33%). Addressing these barriers requires ongoing communication, leadership modeling and simplifying how employees find and enroll in available programs.
How can employers reduce stigma around workplace mental health?
Leaders should normalize mental health by discussing it openly, sharing personal stories and leading by example. Amy Freshman, senior director of global HR at ADP, recommends keeping mental health visible through office signage, periodic education sessions and regular reminders about available resources. Organizations that successfully reduce stigma integrate mental health into their workplace culture rather than treating it as a standalone benefit.
Why do so few employees use employee assistance programs (EAPs)?
Despite 98% of mid-to-large companies offering EAPs, only about 4% of employees use them annually. Common reasons include employees forgetting the program exists after onboarding, confidentiality concerns, complexity in accessing services and persistent stigma. Freshman notes that ongoing education — not just a one-time onboarding mention — is critical to driving EAP awareness and usage.
