The cost of living is continuing to rise – everything from energy bills to the weekly shop is going up in price, leading to a fall in disposable income. This is undoubtably having an impact on the health and wellbeing of employees everywhere. So what can you do to help? Read on as the Occupational Healthcare team at YourGP offer their advice.

How is the cost of living crisis affecting people in the UK?
According to research conducted by the Royal Society for Public Health, 47% of households indicated that they are worried they are running out of ways to minimise costs further without cutting back on essentials. And 41% are concerned that the cost-of-living is impacting their physical health.

The four pillars of wellbeing
The four pillars of wellbeing represent the four key areas that indicate the overall health and happiness of an individual; Mental, Physical, Financial, Social.

Sadly, the cost of living crisis has the potential to impact every pillar:

• Mental – The individual may experience stress and anxiety caused or heightened by the inability to keep up with rising costs.
• Physical – The individual may be unable to afford to maintain their previous healthy lifestyle – having to give up their gym membership or having to take on a second job, for example.
• Financial – The individual may have much less disposable income.
• Social – The individual may experience social challenges such as loneliness and isolation as a result of having less money to spend.

The effects on workplace wellbeing
It is no surprise that such an impact on the wellbeing of individuals has the potential to be felt within the workplace. The negative impact on an employee’s health can have a knock-on effect in terms of their attendance and performance at work.

So what can employers do to help?

Steps to improve your workplace

• Pay a fair wage. The Living Wage is independently calculated and is the minimum amount that a worker needs to earn to cover the basic cost of living. This figure is £9.90 across the UK, apart from London where the figure is £11.05.
• Educate your team about finance. Ensure they are made fully aware of all the benefits your business offers, and refer them to organisations that offer free independent financial help and advice, should they require it.
• Encourage an open and inclusive culture in the workplace where employees feel comfortable talking about problems or physical and mental health issues that have the potential to impact their working life. Ensure time is allocated for one-to-ones within a private space for these conversations.
• Organise wellbeing sessions and educate your team about the importance of looking after their physical and mental health, and offer practical health and advice on how to do so on a budget.
• Ensure line managers are aware of potential warning signs to look out for – such as an employee becoming withdrawn, making regular mistakes, having emotional outbursts, poor time keeping etc – and make sure they know how to react accordingly, by offering help and support.
• Where possible, be open to the option of remote, hybrid or flexible working. Some employees may benefit from reducing their commuting costs by working from home, whilst others may prefer to lower their home utility bills by working at the office.
• Consider, does your office dress code put unnecessary stress on employees to regularly buy new workplace attire? Can this dress code be relaxed?
• Should your employee need to work a second job, be accommodating where possible, to ensure this is a workable solution for them.

Find out more
If you would like to speak to the Occupational Healthcare team at YourGP about ways to improve the wellbeing of your team, call 0131 225 5656 or email occhealth@your.gp and we’ll be happy to discuss the impact of the cost of living crisis.