How To Keep Employees Healthy Throughout The Holidays

The holidays are a time of merriment with friends and family. They are also a time of eating and drinking. Prevent health issues and promote wellness at work this season.

Make Parties Healthy And Fun
Holiday parties too often end in over-consumption of alcohol. Begin healthy practices by cutting the alcohol at company parties. Your CEO will thank you when this prevents him from giving that long, slurred speech at the next event.
Alcohol creeps into the blood stream and organs, harming the liver and kidneys. It hurts the heart and can lead to many medical conditions. Do not add to employee addiction or other problems by serving liquor. Opt for virgin drinks and sparkling cider instead.Flavored water and cucumber-infused water is perfect for meetings and small parties.
Serve small sandwiches on whole grain bread and vegetable kabobs. Less red meat and more whole grain is good for keeping up energy. Leave out the fatty pastries and instead serve light soup and fruit platters. Partygoers will thank you when the festivities are over.
Team Meeting Incentives
Good food can help people stay awake and want to come to meetings. Fill up the table with healthy options for a good start to the day. Provide fruit and natural orange juice instead of fake sugary juice and cookies. Sandwich platters take the place of donut trays nicely. Encourage eating right during the most important meal of the day. Wellness starts with you.
Late night meetings often involve delivered food. Make up a short list of healthy local eateries that delivery ahead of time. This way, when an emergency meal is needed, Chinese is not the only option. Buying local can put money into the local market and boost your business.
Cut Out The Soda
Soda does not do a body good during the flu and cold season of winter or hay fever seasons of spring, summer, and fall. Keep bodies fortified with healthy food and drink choices from the vending machines. Make sure that fruits, whole grains and protein can be found on the vending machine menu.
Gifts Can Be Fun And Good For You
Rather than giving the same-old gift cards this year, choose more thoughtful gifts. Hand out gym memberships and health magazine subscriptions that are sure to be appreciated. Give gift certificates for local health food eateries.Fruit baskets are a big hit, too. Show employees that the company cares about their health through the gifts given.
Give Shots
Provide free cold and flu vaccines for employees and their families. It is worth the effort to prevent mass sickness in the office. Host a "get a shot" day or allow for free shots from family doctors. This prevents the spread of diseases that bring workers down and sometimes kill.
Promote Wellness Programs
Make sure that during these celebratory times, workers know about programs to help. The employee benefits package should offer compensation for taking part in health programs. The company should facilitate quitting smoking and overcoming obesity. After all, healthy workers can work harder and provide more income for the company. So they should be rewarded for attaining good health.
Offer Paid Sick Leave
Many people do not know that they are allowed a certain number of days each year to stay at home while they are ill. Let this be known when the holiday sick season rolls around. This way, people won't get others sick because they don't want to use up vacation days. Set up a system for deadlines and projects to be picked up when someone cannot come in to work.
Sickness is a natural part of life, so it should be planned for. But it is also often preventable. So set up the office environment to allow for the best possible health of employees this holiday season.