World Health Day. What role does sport play in taking care of employee well-being?
Health is an area that attracts more and more attention from employers. This results not only from labour law, but above all from the benefits that come from taking care of the psychophysical well-being of staff. World Health Day is a good opportunity to take a closer look at the well-being and needs of the teams.
“My health, my right” – this is the motto of this year’s World Health Day, which falls on 7 April. This special day in the calendar aims to focus attention on current health problems faced by societies around the world. This year’s theme concentrates on health as a fundamental human right, including all efforts to ensure and put this right into practice.
It is worth remembering that the right to health is inextricably linked to employee rights. Pursuant to Article 15 of the Labour Code, “The employer is obliged to provide employees with safe and hygienic working conditions”, while Article 207 § 2 informs that “The employer is obliged to protect the health and life of employees by ensuring safe and hygienic working conditions with the appropriate use of achievements of science and technology.” Nowadays, however, employees’ expectations towards employers are evolving. In addition to ensuring physical safety, more and more attention is paid to holistic care for their psychophysical condition.
Physical activity as a new prevention
Nowadays, expectations regarding prevention are growing. Working people are increasingly paying attention to the need for early mental health care. Although awareness in this area is growing, the number of anti-stress actions taken in companies leaves much to be desired. According to the MultiSport Index 2023 survey, three out of five employees in Poland declare that their employer does not take any anti-stress actions in the company. Meanwhile, as both health experts and Polish residents themselves point out, one of the simplest and widely available solutions to support mental health is physical activity: 89% of physically active Poles claim that regular exercise reduces stress and negative emotions. [1]
In turn, neglecting everyday exercise has a direct impact on the deterioration of our health. According to research, following the WHO recommended minimum of 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week in 27 European Union countries could help avoid over 10,000 premature deaths annually among people aged 30-70 and extend the average life expectancy of insufficiently active people by 7.5 months and the entire population by almost 2 months. [2]
Introducing activities supporting employee health is not only good practice and a manifestation of companies’ social responsibility, but also an action that translates into real business benefits. According to the MultiSport Index survey, 79% of active Poles admit that regular physical activity contributes to increasing efficiency and commitment at work.
The physical activity of society also affects the entire economy on a macro scale. The WHO and OECD report estimates that engaging in the recommended 150 minutes of physical activity per week by EU citizens could reduce health spending by 0.6%. This would save 8 billion euros a year by preventing 11.5 million cases of non-communicable diseases such as depression, heart disease and cancer.
[1] Raport MultiSport Index 2023
[2] OECD/WHO (2023), Step Up! Tackling the Burden of Insufficient Physical Activity in Europe, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/500a9601-en.
Sandra Dobrowolska
Benefit Systems has been operating on the Polish market for over two decades and is one of the leaders in providing non-financial benefits that support employee well-being. The company is the creator of the MultiSport Programme, which enables physical activity in sports facilities throughout the country. Its portfolio also includes the MyBenefit cafeteria platform and the MultiLife wellbeing programme. For several years now, the company’s sports offer has been developed on foreign markets, including the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Croatia. The Benefit Systems Group operates over 240 fitness clubs on four markets (in Poland it is responsible for the Zdrofit, Fitness Academy, My Fitness Place, Fabryka Formy, StepONE, Total Fitness, FitFabric and Saturn Fitness networks). An important area of Benefit Systems activities is the promotion of an active lifestyle at every stage of life, which is why the company implements initiatives supporting physical activity of children, adults, and seniors, also as part of the MultiSport Foundation. Since 2018, Benefit Systems has been part of the global B Corp initiative, bringing together companies operating and engaging in solving the most important social problems. More information can be found at benefitsystems.pl/en.
