You may be a little bit in the dark when it comes to the reasons why businesses offer flu shots to their employees but there is certainly a method in their madness. It is fair to say that they do care about their employees and they would like them to be as healthy as possible, but there are some selfish reasons why businesses decide to pay money to offer the flu shot to their current employees for free. It makes perfect business sense that you want to reduce the number of sick days that employees take due to the flu and so if they can put anything in place that will save them money over the long term then they will.
This sounds somewhat pessimistic and it is kind of glass have empty kind of thinking but it is the reality of the modern workplace and as an employee, it is something that you should try to take advantage of whenever possible. If your company offers a workplace flu shot program then you should sign up for it because not only does it keep you healthy but it also allows you to earn a living and not have to take time off because you’re sick. Your parents have always told you to be prepared in life and so businesses want to be prepared as well.
The following are some of the reasons why businesses offer flu shots to their employees and why they pay for them as well.
- Reduces staff absenteeism – Businesses all across the world lose literally millions of dollars every single year because of days off due to sickness. From an economic point of view, it makes perfect sense to spend money in order to make money and this is the thinking behind offering flu shots to employees for free. If an employee does not catch the flu then they don’t need any time off for being sick and this means that production was up and hopefully profits will follow as a result.
- Reduces time off – This is in relation to staff members booking time to go to the local doctor to get their flu shots in the first place. By organizing on-site flu vaccinations for your business, your staff gets to come to work and it only takes a few moments for them to receive their shot, and then they can get back to work again. Staff does not have to miss work in order to get the necessary flu shot and so things continue on as normal.
- Reduces health costs – If you offer a companywide health policy then you do not want to be making claims on the policy if it can be avoided at all. By offering your staff a flu shot for free within your private health care policy, you are providing them with protection that will hopefully stop them from getting sick in the first place and so there will be fewer claims on your company policy. This will save you money over the long term and it is a smart business practice.
As well as the above reasons, you as the employer are letting your staff know that you really do care about their overall general health and you will take steps to protect them whenever possible.
