Health and Well-Being

We are committed to ensuring that employees who require occupational health support receive it at the earliest opportunity and promoting and supporting the general well-being of our workforce.

Drivers constitute the majority of our workforce and we are very aware that issues such as fatigue, stress and musculoskeletal injury can affect them in the workplace. They also have very sedentary jobs which can lead to health and well-being issues.

All our employees have access to employee assistance programmes. This support includes confidential counselling on any issue, health advice and financial counselling. We also provide a free confidential hotline, enabling employees to raise concerns in relation to issues such as harassment, discrimination, safety and security.

To date, well-being has been managed at a local level within the business. The results of our employee surveys have shown that this approach has been inadequate and we need to improve the consistency of well-being provision. This year we have started to promote our first UK-wide well-being strategy in partnership with Change4Life. This will focus on promoting three core strands of diet, exercise and mental health.

Over the next 12 months we will trial a schedule of events in selected operating companies around key well-being issues such as alcohol awareness, cancer awareness, smoking and diet. Through this relationship we will also be seeking to build our relationship with well-being charities such as Cancer Research and Diabetes UK to deliver support and information to our employees.

Partnering with Change4Life

Change4Life is a UK Government programme that encourages people to make small changes which mean they eat well, move more and live longer.

Promoting greater physical exercise amongst staff is an important well-being area for us. In cooperation with Change4Life we have been promoting opportunities for our employees to access physical exercise such as low-cost gym membership, swimming pool vouchers and help in setting up running and cycling clubs.

In North America a Health and Wellness Fair tours different locations around the country. The tour began in the wake of a very successful Health and Wellness Fair at our Cincinnati headquarters, in which 65% of employees participated. At the fairs, company representatives are available to discuss employee benefits and health welfare initiatives which include medical, dental and vision issues, 401(k) retirement planning and the Employee Assistance Program. There is also a local presence providing information on local health food and/or gym discounts in an effort to encourage employees to participate. Health and wellness updates are also published in our employee magazine and weekly employee news update.

Our sickness rates have further reduced this year. We hope the launch of our well-being programme will support further reductions in the coming year and promote better well-being amongst our employees.