Benefits for Employees Staying Healthy

Mar 11, 2015
2 min read

When you have a stuffed-up nose, cough, congestion, nausea and a sore throat, the last thing you probably want to do is go to work. Not only will you feel under the weather, but you won't be all that productive either. In addition to holding onto your hard-earned sick days, staying healthy has numerous other benefits when it comes to doing your job.

Fewer Sick Days

When you're healthy and feeling good, you're less likely to take a sick day. By banking your sick days, you might be able to trade them in for cash. Many companies don't let their employees roll sick time from one year to the next. Depending on your company's policy, you may just lose the sick time you don't take during year, according to "Governing" magazine. Alternately, the company may pay you for unused sick days at the end of the calendar year. Keeping yourself healthy by eating right and exercising might add up to a nice bonus check right after the holidays.

Increased Productivity

Coughing, sneezing and throwing up get in the way of finishing your work-related tasks. As you well know, you're responsible for completing a certain amount of work in a given time frame, and being sick prevents you from accomplishing that goal. When you're sick, you're probably also feeling quite fatigued, which can increase your risk of a workplace accident, according to Corporate Wellness Magazine. When you eat right, exercise and don't smoke, you're a more healthy employee, which means increased productivity and fewer accidents

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Better Relationships

Healthy employees are also happier employees. When you're a happier employee, you're more likely to get along with your co-workers. A strong social network at the office boosts your overall sense of well-being, according to the "Gallup Business Journal." Co-workers who have a mutually respectful relationship work together more effectively to get the job done. Strong work relationships also allow co-workers to recognize the strengths of their colleagues, which can foster close bonds and also encourage a broader range of ideas and talents that help get the tasks at hand completed efficiently and on time, according to the American Psychological Association.

Less Costly

Staying healthy allows you keep money in your pocketbook. When you're not spending your hard-earned money on co-pays, deductibles and your portion of health-care related costs, you get to keep more of your paycheck. Also, when you're spending less money on health care, your employer's health insurance costs are lower. Often, employers pass their savings along to you so your health-care premiums cost less. The "Gallup Business Journal" reports that a healthy 60-year-old has lower health-care costs for his employer and himself compared to a 30-year-old in poor health.