Agenda item

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

The Board received an update on the London Healthy Workplace Charter,

which had been piloted in the City of London. The charter was designed to

provide a framework for businesses to improve workplace health for their

employees. So far, one large business in the City has successfully achieved a

charter accreditation for Excellence. The Environmental Health team has allocated resource to promoting the Charter, and supporting businesses through the process, until April 2014. Uptake and effectiveness of the charter for City businesses would be reviewed at the end of the 2013/14 work year and reported back to the Board.

Officers informed the Committee that City worker health research showed high rates of smoking and alcohol consumption amongst City workers, as well as high levels of concern about stress, anxiety and depression. The business case for investing in health and wellbeing includes:

• corporate social responsibility; improving the quality of life of the workforce

and their families as well as of the local community and society at large;

• competition; in a competitive labour market there is pressure on employers

to distinguish themselves in order to attract and keep quality staff; and

• high costs; for some it has become clear that, unless an initiative is

introduced, the costs of sickness absence could threaten the business

itself.

Members were in agreement that the London Health Workplace Charter was a step in the right direction and would enable the City to share a commitment to improvement.

RECEIVED.