Why day one is the most important day of work

Whatever the job and wherever the place of work, UK law now demands you provide your employees with ‘Day One Statements’ about their employment. While compliance is a legal requirement, it is also an opportunity to take simple steps to support employees and nurture their careers with you from the start. And at a time of upheaval across UK workplaces, taking care of wellbeing and safeguarding productivity is more critical than ever. 

Take simple steps to boost wellbeing and productivity across your business

Supporting employee wellbeing can increase productivity by as much as 12%, according to research by the Mental Health Foundation. In fact, a Deloitte study in 2020 found that for every £1 spent on mental health interventions by employers, they get back £5 in reduced absence, presenteeism and staff turnover.  

With many of our working lives disrupted or even turned upside down, employees and employers alike are seeing just how valuable wellbeing is to maintaining morale and mental health, and staying productive. More than ever, supporting wellbeing is both the right thing to do and critical to business success.  

Where we work, when we work and how we work are all continuing to change. Home and remote working are set to become normal for many more employees, while contact time is often virtual. These new patterns of working mean that we often need to look beyond the office when it comes to wellbeing. When feelgood initiatives such as fruit in the office, cycle-to-work schemes and lunchtime yoga are out of the question, how do you ensure wellbeing is at the heart of what you do? 

At such a time, while employers may want to do more to support wellbeing, turning that ambition into action can be harder than ever. Businesses face new and significant challenges as they deal with uncertainty over the future and new government restrictions. Add these up, and the importance of nurturing wellbeing from day one is clear. 

On 6 April 2020, new rules came into force setting out the information workers are entitled to receive from their employer about benefits when they start a new job. At the best of times, it can be hard to keep up with these types of changes, let alone in the middle of a pandemic with its business disruptions and changed working patterns.  

Research with Norstat in October 2020 showed that only 24% of small businesses and 17% of medium-sized businesses knew they had a legal requirement to provide day one statements to new employees no later than their first day of work. In the midst of lockdown, many employers have missed this change but need to be aware of their new obligations in order to comply in the future. 

The legal duty to provide Day One Statements is an opportunity for all employers to start taking care of wellbeing and productivity, and to build better businesses. In fact, 69% of medium-sized businesses say health and wellbeing benefits boost the productivity of their company (Norstat research commissioned by the ABI in Nov 2020).  

More than a legal duty, Day One Statements help to ensure employees are aware of all the measures you are taking to support their wellbeing and what company benefits they can use to stay healthy. This might be about holiday entitlements or returning to work after illness or injury, or other schemes, such as mentoring opportunities or team yoga sessions. 

A Day One Statement shows workers you care about their health and wellbeing. Too often, the benefits that employers provide for their workforce are revealed in an ad hoc fashion during the course of a person’s employment. As a result, take up and appreciation of those services is often low. Why miss out on this opportunity to support wellbeing and boost productivity? Instead, see Day One Statements as a foundational opportunity for you to shout about all the benefits you offer, and build wellbeing from the start.  

Build employee wellbeing with these simple steps