American employers lose more than 300 billion dollars of productivity annually due to illness, sick days, absenteeism and sub-par performance (“presenteeism”).
How much did YOU lose last year?
For every dollar an employer spends on salaries and wages, they spend a minimum of an additional 10 cents on health insurance and workers compensation costs. This is above and beyond the unintentional and often unrecognized costs noted above.
Why is wellness important in the corporate environment? Why should employers be concerned about their employees’ wellness?
The average employee misses 8.4 days annually due to illness or injury, totaling more than $63 billion nationwide. The employee with a serious or chronic condition (diabetes, lung disease, heart disease, cancer, etc.) misses 72 days annually, and works at diminished capacity when present. Nationwide, more than 2.5 billion work days are reduced or lost completely.
Is this the kind of workforce you intended to employ?
Have you budgeted for this reduction in productivity?
So you have employees who get sick. Everyone gets sick from time to time, right? Maybe so, maybe no.
Even the common cold is subject to a person’s immune system letting it occur, so if you have employees in stellar health, they may well not miss a single day or even be under the weather for years at a time. Which would you rather have? A workforce of vital, energetic hard-working individuals focused on results and available to work when and where you need them? Or, would you rather have a workforce of average individuals who use up most of their sick leave, (if not more than their fair share), and come to work dragging their heads and underperforming?
Wellness in the workplace has many benefits, and employers who have tracked their employees’ wellness, as well as those who have contributed to their employees’ wellness, have enjoyed increases in productivity, decreased healthcare costs, decreased workers compensation costs, and increased employee loyalty and higher morale.