World Mental Health Day: Why Is It Important to Provide Employee Wellness Programs?

It’s World Mental Health Day and the awareness for mental health has never been higher in the country than it is today. The Mental Health Law in the Philippines or the RA 11036 has put a spotlight on this pressing issue and we believe that it’s for the better.

Back in the day, mental health issues were shrugged off and passed upon, but as time passed by, more and more people recognized them.

During the pandemic, it puts an even brighter spotlight on mental health, the importance of taking care of your employees’ well-being has never been higher.

Aside from the fact that when you have a wellness program it projects you as an attractive employer, employee wellness programs have more benefits towards your company as you would think:

A good wellness program should be focused on helping employees adopt healthy behaviors. When people are imbued with wellness programs that teach them to eat healthily and be physically active, they will develop a habit.

The New England Journal of Medicine reported in a study that for every 1% drop in total cholesterol, the risk of having a heart attack dropped by 2 to 3%.

Developing a habit of healthy lifestyles will reduce health risks overall and this will also reduce your employees who’re taking sick leaves, a win-win for your organization!

There are over 100 studies that have reviewed the financial impact of wellness programs. Back in 2001, a study reviewed over 100 studies about the financial impact of worksite wellness programs, the ability of a wellness program to reduce healthcare costs depends on how good the wellness program really is.

Sprout’s Wellness Program gives your company a holistic, digital wellness solution. Sprout Wellness covers the bases that your company needs to be compliant, and your employees need to stay productive.

Our wellness solution has helped dozens of companies implement their own wellness program.

We can define poor employee productivity as physically being at work but not actually working. This is what we call presenteeism. It’s estimated in a study “Pharmaceuticals and worker productivity loss: a critical review of the literature” that the cost associated with presenteeism due to poor employee health is at least 2 to 3 times greater than direct health care expenses.

There are dozens of factors that are connected with poor employee productivity but one of the main causes of presenteeism is poor health.

There’s been a new study in presenteeism published by Population Health Management.

Those who smoke were 28% more likely to have high presenteeism than those who don’t smoke. Employees who have an unhealthy diet were 66% more likely to have high presenteeism and those who don’t exercise regularly were 50% more likely to have high presenteeism.

To sum it up, in order to increase productivity, you will need to implement a wellness program for your employees.

If you have a wellness program in place in your organization, then you won’t have problems being compliant but if you don’t have a wellness program in place, you’re going to have problems.

The RA 11036 states that; The state affirms the basic right of all Filipinos to mental health as well as the fundamental rights of people who require mental health services.

Section 44 of the Mental Health Act states the Penalty Clause of this law.

Section 44. Penalty Clause. – Any person who commits any of the following acts shall, upon conviction by final judgment, be punished by imprisonment of not less than six (6) months, but not more than two (2) years, or a fine of not less than Ten thousand pesos (P10,000.00), but not more than Two hundred thousand pesos (P200,000.00), or both, at the discretion of the court:

By having a wellness program implemented within your organization, your organization will remain compliant.

With Sprout Wellness, you can provide a holistic digital wellness program for your company!

With our solution you will have:

• Access to important analytics that concerns the overall wellness of your employees by providing pulse surveys, and from these surveys, you will be able to craft actionable wellness solutions for your employees.
• Provide group activities that promote wellness through yoga sessions, meditation, and coaching sessions.
• Give your employees the opportunity to consult with a professional with our 1-on-1 online consultations
• Weekly tips, reminders, and webinars that help your overall company to bring an effective wellness program.
• Compliance, our team will provide assistance in drafting your mental health policy for your organization.

Do you want to learn more? Click here and book a demo today!

Cheers!