Costs of poor employee health

Poor health isn't just expensive and taxing on the person who is sick-workers and employees with poor health can end up costing employers, as well.

When an employee has poor health, whether it is from neglecting to care for themselves or something chronic, it can affect the organization they work for in a number of ways, including:

Loss of productivity
Naturally, poor employee health often results in a loss of productivity at work. It means employees in poor health are taking more sick days, resulting in projects taking longer to meet and deadlines being missed. Employees who are in poor health and come to work anyway risk making other employees sick as well. In addition, people who come to work not feeling way may not be able to focus on the task at hand. If their job entails operating machinery, this could be very dangerous.

Higher insurance costs
Insurance costs rise for a number of reasons. One of these reasons is the amount of doctor visits a person takes. When employees who are in poor health are visiting doctors and hospitals often, the result is higher insurance premiums to cover the costs of frequent visits. These increased insurance costs apply to everyone in the company on the plan, not just those who are in poor health.

Lower quality work
Employees who are in poor health can also cost the company through lower quality work. This can be a result of missing long periods of work, not having the energy to complete tasks, or overlooking things. This is a waste of time, as the work that is not up to par will most likely have to be redone.

What you can do
If you have employees with poor health, the following are some things you can do to help them improve their overall health as well as save money for your company:

• Find out what the problems are. You can better help with the problem if you know what exactly they are. Health problems that are related to smoking, for example, would require a different course of action than those related to obesity.

• Implement wellness programs. You might want to offer your company and employees wellness programs that can help them improve their overall health. This might include a wellness fair that tests body fat, cholesterol, and other issues that can affect health, providing a smoking cessation course for those who would like to quit, or it could be starting a company-wide exercise program to help employees lose weight. Most insurance companies don't cover things like this, so it's not a bad idea or investment for employers to offer them.

• Offer incentives. For some people, an incentive is the push needed to get people to take control of their health. You can offer incentives such as cash, extra days off, tokens to redeem for prizes, or gift cards for those who participate in and complete programs or efforts to improve their overall health.

• Be an example. Help get everyone excited and motivated about improving their health by making sure those at the top, such as owners and managers, take charge of their own health and participate in the challenges and wellness programs offered. This is a great way to get everyone motivated.

Employees with poor health can end up costing the company not only in health care costs, but through lost productivity as well. Employers should take steps to improve the health of their employees.

More Employee Health and Fitness Articles:

• The cost of unhealthy employees
• The cost of sick employees
• The cost of getting your employees gym memberships
• The benefits of encouraging employees to work out
• Simple changes to make in the office to improve employee health
• Reducing employee absenteeism
• Popular wellness programs
• Plans to improve employee health
• On-site employee fitness centers
• Office "Biggest Loser" challenges, why they work and how to set one up