Employee Health

In the past employers didn't consider employee health to be anything that concerned them but with the rising cost of medical care and the increased attention to the link between employee health and productivity, employers are concerning themselves more than ever before with employee health. Employee health at one time was stricty about on-the-job safety and accident and injury prevention. It took a long, long time for employers to even concern themselves with the safety aspect of employee health as in many industries, they viewed their unskilled and semi-skilled workers as expendable. They didn't concern themselves with emotional health or safety. If someone got hurt you just replaced them and moved on.

It took a long time for employers to start living up to their obligations to protect employee health by maintaining a safe working environment. some still don't. But by and large, worker safety has come a long way and employee health has improved even in the most dangerous occupations like mining and manufacturing. But on-the-job safety isn't the only issue affecting employee health. And since employee health has a direct affect on productivity, employers are paying far more attention to employee health in all industries than ever before.

On the administrative and clerical side of industry, employee health once meant an employer provided health benefits that covered doctor care and emergency medical care. But with the rising cost of medical coverage eroding many employers' bottom lines, the emphasis in employee health began to shift to prevention from acute care. Beyond just maintaining a safe workplace, employers have realized that it is in their best interest to encourage their employees to maintain good physical and mental health. It is not an altruistic stance on the part of the employers that they are taking just for the good of their employees. Employee health directly affects productivity in every area of every business.

Sick and unhealthy employees are not as productive as healthy employees. Employees who do not have good health work at less capacity and they miss a lot of work altogether, which is very bad for productivity. So an employers interest in employee health is just a matter of dollars and cents. It saves the employer money in the long run to provide services and benefits aimed to improving employee health. Money spent on prevention when it comes to employee health is bigger money saved down the road when lost productivity and expensive medical care can be avoided. Improving employee health is good business. Every dollar spent on employee health is a good investment.

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