Taking action on workplace health and wellbeing

Table of contents:

Taking action to support your employees’ health and wellbeing benefits your workforce, your workplace and your business.

Why employers should take action

On average, we spend over a third of our waking lives in work (opens in a new window). This means that as an employer, you play an important role in the health and wellbeing of your employees.

In Wales, around 11.6 million days of work are lost due to sickness or injury every year (opens in a new window), making it the UK region with the highest rate of sick days per employee. This could have a significant impact on your business.

Many of the long-term causes of sickness absences are preventable, such as stress or musculoskeletal injuries.

You can help reduce sickness absences in your workplace by addressing the causes and supporting employees.

The benefits of taking action

Our workplace can positively impact us by providing a sense of purpose, social contact and a supportive environment. But it can also have a negative impact from things like poor work conditions or unrealistic workloads.

Employers who invest their time and energy on the health and wellbeing of their staff can help their business thrive in many ways:

  • Employees feel valued and are more engaged and resilient
  • Increased morale, motivation and productivity
  • Fewer sickness absences
  • Reduced staff turnover, lowering recruitment costs

Taking action can also improve your brand and reputation, helping to attract new talent and clients – and allowing your organisation to grow and thrive.

How to take action

You have lots of opportunities to promote healthy lifestyles and support good health and wellbeing in your workplace. This can include:

  • Health at work A-Z

    Use our health at work A-Z to get practical guidance and resources to help you support the health and wellbeing of your employees.

  • Campaigns and events

    Promoting health and wellbeing campaigns can be a simple way to share information and encourage employee engagement. Find information about campaigns and events taking place throughout the year.

  • E-bulletin

    To get regular updates from Healthy Working Wales, including advice, tools and learning opportunities, you can sign up to our e-bulletin.