Health Fairs

Securing an active Employee Wellness Committee provides opportunities for both management and employee participation in the program.  The Wellness Committee should be a group of employees and managers who formally meet to plan activities to promote healthier employee lifestyles.

Typical Functions of a Employee Wellness  Committee:

• Evaluating needs & interests
• Coming up with program ideas
• Planning activities
• Establishing communication plans
• Promoting programs to co-employees
• Serving as champions of the Employee Wellness
• Assisting with evaluation

Your Employee Wellness Committee should be representative of all levels of the business.  Consider all sections of the workforce – multiple sites, shift employees, diversity (race, gender, ethnicity), and departments.   It’s also significant to consider who will chair or co-chair the Employee Wellness  Committee and whether or not there are the finances to support a Employee Wellness  manager or occupational health professional, even on a part-time or contractual basis.  Click here for more information on the advantages of a health professional.

Depending on your business size and resources, if you already have a business Safety Committee you might want to consider making it the Safety & Employee Wellness  Committee.  You have the potential to request volunteers or invite employees to participate.

The number of Employee Wellness Committee members depends on the size of your business; however, you need enough members to get the work done and yet not too many to keep it manageable, usually a minimum of 4 members and maximum of 12 to 15 members.  It’s significant to include skeptics of wellness as well and not just those employees already practicing healthy lifestyles.

Depending on your worksite, consider representatives from the following areas:

• Employee representatives from a cross section of different departments,
• Upper Management
• Health and safety professional(s),
• Human resources professional(s),
• Employee benefits representative or someone from finance,
• Your Employee Assistance Program(EAP) provider (if applicable), Click here for more information on EAPs
• Occupational health employee (if applicable).

Establish an effective Employee Wellness Committee!  The Employee Wellness  Committee should meet frequently with a planned agenda and action items.  Effective Wellness Committees have a shared mission, vision and objectives and goals.  Members need to believe that their participation is worthwhile and appreciated, that their work is significant, benefits the organization and co-employees, and they are recognized for their contributions. Refer to the NC Workplace Programs section for examples of what other corporations have implemented.