Firms 'Turning Blind Eye To Sickness'

Many finance companies are not putting in place procedures to cut down on staff sickness, it has been reported.

According to a leading health plan provider, nearly 50 per cent of firms in the industry have not taken measures to put in place a strategy in order to reduce employee absence.

It added that this comes as close to half of all sector workers have more than five days off work sick each, with 61 per cent of companies failing to acknowledge them - and the cost of the missing days - on the books.

"Those companies that do not have a strategy in place to reduce sickness are missing a trick. Sickness absence costs businesses huge sums of money each year in the form of lost productivity," said a spokesman for the company.

It may be that sporting events like the World Cup, as well as popular movie releases, cause many unnecessary sick days. Also many Monday morning sicknesses can be caused by employee’s excesses at the weekend.

It is unrealistic to expect that you can prevent any type if illness, germ, or sickness from entering your workplace environment. However, there are many things that you as a business can do to help prevent sickness from rampaging through your company. Having a healthier staff means a happier more productive staff.

Top tips to keep your staff healthy:

•    Keep bathrooms and break room areas clean. Make sure these areas cleaned regularly and provide anti-bacterial soaps, towels or air blow dryers.
•    Make sure desks are cleaned. Keyboards and telephones hold more bacteria than a bathroom toilet because they aren't cleaned often.
•    Provide hand sanitizing stations throughout various parts of the building.
•    Provide cleaning materials for individuals to be able to wipe down their personal equipment. This should be done regularly, at least once per week.
•    Encourage your employees to stay home when they are sick. Make sure they understand that they are valuable to you, but they are more valuable healthy than sick.

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