The cost of unhealthy employees

Every good company needs good employees to run well. Employees who are generally healthy tend to be productive employees. When employees are healthy they also cost a company less money. There are several reasons that a sick employee costs a company and an employer money. This article will discuss several of the reasons that unhealthy employees cost more money than healthy employees.

Health insurance costs

It is a very wise decision for businesses to offer their employees health insurance. Everybody needs health insurance, especially employees with a family. When an employer offers health insurance many times employees are able to take advantage of a better health insurance plan than they would be able to if they had to pay for it all with their own money. Offering health insurance can help ensure that an employer can hold on to good employees because employees know that they need insurance and that it is usually cheaper to get it through their employer. Offering health insurance can give employers other benefits as well. Another benefit that offering health insurance to their employees offers is that of a tax deduction. This can help lower the actual amount of taxes that a company owes.

Obesity

The problem of employers offering health insurance to their employees comes about when employees are unhealthy or are participating in unhealthy lifestyle practices. Obese employees tend to file more workers' compensation claims than employees who are not obese. Many times obese employees can cost a business more in productivity and healthcare costs each year compared to healthy employees who are not obese because they tend to participate more in other unhealthy lifestyle practices such as smoking.

Smoking

Employees who smoke seem to be sick more often compared than employees who don't smoke. This would mean that employees who smoke use more of their sick leave than healthy employees. They are also at a higher risk for diseases such as cancer, lung disease, and heart disease, just as employees who are obese. Insurance companies are aware of the higher risk employees who smoke have for these horrible diseases and increase the price of insurance.

Wellness programs

Office wellness programs are a great for employee health. These programs are available for any size of company. They help employees learn how to make good food choices (both when eating at home and eating out at a restaurant), they set up individual exercise programs that will actually work for busy employees, and make the necessary lifestyle changes to be healthy. Some wellness programs help with stress related issues that employees may be suffering from as well. Stress can compromise the immune system causing unhealthy employees.

Wellness programs really are a great thing for an employer to set up for their company to help encourage their employees to be healthier. The one downside for office wellness programs is that they cost money. The more unhealthy employees in an office are the more money the employer will be paying for insurance and the more unhealthy employees in an office should be the cue to the employer to get them to begin an office wellness program. There are a variety of price ranges for wellness programs, but of course, much of the time the better program will cost the employer more money.

Time

In business, time is money. And taking the time to encourage unhealthy employees to be healthy takes time. Instead of spending money and hiring out for a wellness program, employers can begin their own office wellness program. But this takes time and resources. It is possible that the more unhealthy the employees are (or if there are a lot of unhealthy employees in the company) the more time and money it will take to encourage them to be healthy.