Friday, February 29th, 2008
Did you know that the average smoker spends almost a full year of their working life having smoking breaks? That’s a lot of cigarettes. The average smoker takes three 15 minute breaks per day which equates to 195 hours per year. The introduction of the smoking ban has meant that many smokers now have to travel further from their desks (I guess the exercise will help).
Anyway this is a huge cost on employers. I do know of some employers who have started to monitor this more and put in measures to reduce smoke breaks. Many employers see them as negative and a breeding ground for gossip. Fellow non-smoker employee will also not be too happy with these finding as the will carry the additional workload.
Why do we smoke?
Could it be that 1 in 4 workers find their job stressful? A combination of increased working hours and commuting hours has seen stress levels rise in Ireland. Over a third of Irish workers are spending more time working and commuting than they used to. Well work life balance day will soon be upon us to resolve all this stress.
Tags: Cigarettes, Commuting, Employees, Employers, Irish Firms, M50, Smokers, Smoking Ban, Smoking Breaks, Stress, Travel, Work-life Balance
Posted in HR, Work-life Balance | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, February 20th, 2008
Organisations have been introducing a variety of initiatives in the last decade in a bid to improve employee health and work life balance and to take the pressure off poor Mary Harney. Gym memberships, onsite gyms, massages, yoga are all very common place at work.
Why are they doing this?
Well as the header indicates – healthy staff equal productive staff. Initiatives like these can help reduce stress and sickness. There is another flu pandemic on our doorstep according to David Williams but obviously organisations who look after their staff will not be affected. If you have been slack and want to ensure your staff don’t fall victim to colds and flus here is a 10 step guide from today’s Indo.
1. Get enough sleep (use your time on the M50 constructively and catch a few zzzz)
2. Stay active (Ok perhaps do some exercises in the car and forget the sleep)
3. Eat Well (Domino’s have announced 7 new stores for Ireland – problem solved)
4. Look after your emotional health (this does not apply to males – keep them bottled up as before)
5. Have a massage (yes please)
6. Get some herbal help (Book a trip to Amsterdam)
7. De-stress (How?)
8. Quit smoking (What about point 6)
9. Laugh a lot (There is much to laugh about such as recession, negative equity and so on)
10. Drink in Moderation (I was out in Dublin last Thursday and the prices sorted this problem)
Tags: Colds, David McWilliams, Domino's, Employee Health, Flu Pandemic, Flus, Gym, Health & Safety, Healthy Staff, Ireland, Massage, Quit Smoking, Sickness, Stress, Work-life Balance
Posted in HR, Work-life Balance | 2 Comments »
