Employee health and well-being

Health is the most precious commodity that any of us have. With this in mind, Helsana attaches a great deal of importance to its duty of care as an employer and is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment.

Promoting the health and effectiveness of our employees

For years now, our in-house occupational health management programme has been creating the best possible conditions for maintaining and, where possible, promoting the physical and mental health and effectiveness of our employees.

• Courses and workshops, individual health coaching sessions, internal and external counselling services, campaigns aimed at prevention, relaxation and exercise opportunities, as well as information on health-related topics are used to promote health literacy among individuals, managers and teams. Thanks to its comprehensive and systematic health management system, Helsana has been awarded the “Friendly Work Space” label no fewer than four times since 2012.
• We support employees affected by frequent or prolonged absences and their managers as part of our systematic absence management programme. Managers undergo regular training on this issue, for example, as part of the mandatory face-to-face training session on “Healthy & inclusive leadership” for new managers and, since 2023, in the e-learning module “Healthy leadership” as a refresher course for experienced managers.
• The incidence of mental illness has risen in Switzerland, a trend that is also leaving its mark at Helsana. As a result, we used the reporting year to develop various measures and tools to raise awareness: for example, our “Tips for strengthening your mental health”, a panel discussion on burnout, our principles for dealing with stressed and ill employees, and the introduction of the Aepsy app, featuring content on and easier access to psychological support.

At Helsana, illness-related absences fell compared to 2022: they totalled 8.3 days per full-time equivalent (FTE) in 2023 compared to 8.6 days in the previous year. The reduction is likely due, among other things, to a decline in COVID-19 cases.