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Getting sick is a normal and inevitable part of life that is completely out of our control. Here we discuss reducing sick leave tips.
Due to this being unavoidable, it is not uncommon for people to have an odd day off work for them to recover. The issue with employees falling ill is the fact that it can be costly for businesses and can cost them around £107 for each day taken sick due to the average UK sick pay rate.
When you must pay out this and then understand the lack of productivity, the cost of a sick day can cost much more.
Although getting sick is inevitable, there are steps that you can put into place to reduce sickness absences in a business.
Is the workplace environment making your employees sick?
There are many different factors that can cause illnesses and businesses can actively play a part in this. Too much time spent indoors, too much artificial life, and too much sitting down can all be contributing factors to your employees falling ill. If you are seeing an increase in illnesses, then it could be time to have a thorough audit of the workplace.
By allowing a professional to audit your workspace, they won’t be biased to what actually needs resolving such as a broken ventilation system. Another good idea is to ask your employees what they think needs resolving as this won’t just reduce illness but will also make your workers happier and possibly more productive.
Encouraging your staff to go outdoors can have some serious health benefits for your employees. By allowing natural light into the workplace as possible, can improve the overall mood of the office.
Encourage employees to be more active
There is a lot of talk at the moment about the dangers of sitting down for more than 6 hours a day as it can greatly increase your risk of early death. On the other hand, exercise has countless benefits for the body such as reducing stress levels and promoting a healthy heart.
It can also strengthen the immune system that help to defend the body from the bugs that come around a couple of times throughout the year. You can reduce the risk of illnesses in the office by looking for ways in which you can bring exercise into the workplace such as giving a subsidised gym membership or offering a cycle to work scheme to employees that are interested in it.
Promote healthy eating and diets
The other side of health and fitness is healthy eating which is something that many simply just don’t have the time for which is why some opt for supplements in the winter such as vitamin D tablets. The benefits of a healthy diet are endless, but some foods contain high sources of vitamins and nutrients which can help to reduce illnesses and boost your immune system.
There is also a strong link between stress and nutrition as it can help to manage your stress levels. This is easier than said to implement as how do you implement a healthy eating culture within a workplace. Some businesses have enough investment to implement free staff meals that are exclusively healthy. This is expensive and it is understood that many businesses can’t afford this, but there are steps that can be made in the right direction.
One simple step is to provide free fruit to all staff by adding a fruit bowl to the office. If you have a vending machine, then one can swap the unhealthy options for nutritious food. These are going to take a while for people to get on board with and it may even result in some employees not being happy but in the long run, it will be worth the investment as you will see an improvement in their mood and productivity.
Final Thoughts
There are many different ways in which you can help to reduce illness in the workplace but encouraging your employees to be more conscious of how they are looking after themselves may change a shift in their minds which will then improve the way that they eat and possibly exercise. You will find that once you are encouraging your employees to eat healthier and find out that they are getting benefits from cycling to work, then you will see an improvement in productivity and a reduction in how many people have illnesses. Offering free online learning resources to employees about healthy living could offer additional support.
