Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, it has opened up the eyes of some employers and some employees as well. Now more than ever, people are becoming mindful of their health. This includes taking extra steps to have a clean workspace such as sanitizing their space, spending more time washing their hands, but this also includes mental health as well.
Employers must have healthy employees. Healthy employees mean happy employees, happy employees massively help out in increasing productivity. Health in the workplace is so important. Plus this also can help shape the work culture as well. If you’re running a business, and you have a team, it’s your responsibility that you encourage your employees to retain a healthy lifestyle. These tips will help business owners keep their employees’ well-being on the right track.
What is your duty in regards to your employee’s health and wellbeing?
If your business is in the United States, you do have a duty and an employer to protect the health, safety, and welfare of your employees. This is under the Health and Safety Executives (HSE) Act. You need to care for your staff and in general, you need to focus on their well-being. Both 2020 and 2021 have proven that many employees will leave their employer if they’re unsafe or if they notice that their health is declining.
You don’t want low retention rates at your business, low retention rates are not only bad for your business as it affects your reputation, but it’s far more time-consuming and expensive trying to hire new employees and train them.
Be prepared
As a business owner, you need to have general knowledge about health. Some cities have laws where one of their employees or business owners needs to be a safety officer. This means having a first aid kit in the office, but it also requires having knowledge and certification in something such as CPR. You can easily look into CPR AED certification online for yourself and your employees as well. You never know when an accident may occur.
Let them know they can take time off
A lot of employees will continue working while they’re completely sick, some will even work when they need to be recovering from an accident. There is a major rise in employees who are attending work even though they’re too sick to do so.
Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, this has been an occurring trend. As their boss, you have to let them know that they can take the day off if they’re too sick. Showing up to work sick, or even working remotely feeling sick is only going to make them far less productive and the recovery process will take much longer as well.
Let employees know they can share their voice
A lot of employees can be going through a troubling time, and their headspace just isn’t in the right place. Encourage your employees to speak up if there is something wrong in the office. Encourage them to say something if they’re going through a hard time. Let them know they can take a break. Everyone is having their own problems and your employees should feel safe speaking out and asking for things. Also, let your employees know there is no shame in seeking help from a mental health professional.
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