Introducing a wellness program into your organization can have a significant impact on your bottom line. For small companies, employee illness can be a far greater burden than it is for larger ones as a far larger proportion of your workforce is absent. While only 29% of larger firms say their productivity immediately falls when a single member of staff is absent, this figure rises to 40% for small firms.
The more you can do to keep your employees fit and healthy, the more your business will benefit. Read on for a few tips on how to achieve this, and how to deal with employees who require additional support.
Prioritize wellness
Begin by letting your employees know that this is a priority for you and that you truly care about their wellbeing. Establish screenings from health professionals and consider providing subsidized gym memberships. You could also encourage the setting up of a range of sports teams and offers prizes for competitions within your firm or with other companies.
Sick leave
If you have an employee who calls in sick, you have every right to ask questions to ascertain exactly what is wrong with them. After all, you need this information in order to make an informed decision about whether you can leave the work they were doing until they return, whether you need to assign someone else from the same team to cover their position in the short term or whether you need to consider hiring a short-term replacement.
Be aware, however, that the Americans with Disabilities Act offers protection to employees with mental or physical impairments that limit major life activities. This includes conditions such as epilepsy, HIV or a substantial visual or hearing impairment. In such cases, you can ask an employee when they expect to return to work but little more.
Offer support
Employees who are struggling with long-term physical health conditions that make it impossible for them to continue working may be eligible for benefit payments but will need to ensure they comply with local laws and regulations to avoid falling foul of the system.
For this reason, it is essential that they seek legal advice from a lawyer working in their vicinity. If, for example, your employee lives in the northeast of Florida, then a trusted disability attorney in Jacksonville would be best placed to deal with their case.
Mental health concerns
With as many as one in 10 American adults suffering from depression, it is far becoming the leading cause of absenteeism from work and lost productivity. If you suspect that an employee may be suffering from depression and that it is affecting their work, you need to be cautious in how you approach them about it.
First, choose an environment that is private and where they will be comfortable talking to you about their situation. If your concerns are the result of mistakes that have been made, focus instead on your worries about their overall well-being before going on to establish their view of the situation and then establishing strategies to see if it can be resolved.
