Ibec launches 6th National Workplace Wellbeing Day

Ibec, the group the represents Irish business, is launching its 6th National Workplace Wellbeing Day which will be held on 1 May 2020. It is believed to be the only national day in the EU specifically dedicated by business to shining a spotlight on employee health and wellbeing. 

As part of National Workplace Wellbeing Day, companies across Ireland celebrate the occasion with a range of health and wellbeing activities in the workplace. Up to 1,000 companies participated last year. 
Commenting, Ibec CEO Danny McCoy, said: “The global emergency occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic has created the greatest disruption and uncertainty we have experienced in our lifetimes. Now more than ever, it is imperative that employers and business owners send the message that the health and wellbeing of employees and staff is paramount in this time of adversity.

“Ibec launched the first National Workplace Wellbeing Day in 2015 with the purpose of encouraging businesses across Ireland to not only to mark on a given day the importance of wellness across organisations, but to develop continuous multi-annual programmes to achieve these outcomes. Never did we imagine that such a programme would have more relevance than it does this year. 

“Over recent weeks we have witnessed and experienced the truly remarkable responses of people in Ireland to the enormous public health and economic challenges that COVID-19 has presented. We see this in the dedication of our front-line workers in healthcare, supply chains and security. We see it in businesses who all but overnight have had to reconfigure the way we work together remotely.

“It is in this same spirit that we would ask employers and employees to come together in common cause on 1 May 2020 and celebrate the resilience and goodwill that is manifesting in workplaces across the country.”

National Workplace Wellbeing Day 2020 this year takes place in an environment in which workplaces across Ireland have been utterly transformed due to the need for restrictions in movement, social distancing and the publication of the Essential Business list. 

In recognition of new workplace arrangements, such as remote working or the need for highly restricted practices at businesses on the essential business list, this year’s day will employ an additional hashtag #TogetherApart to operate alongside #WorkWell20. Ibec asks businesses to showcase their activities on social media in keeping with the spirit of common cause being adopted nationally and globally to fight the pandemic. 

Sample activities for National Workplace Wellbeing Day 2020 include:

• Online meditation and fitness sessions such as yoga / pilates
• Virtual connect session including team lunches, water cooler moments
• Online briefings and live Q&A sessions with wellbeing practitioners 
• Team building activities such as baking, cooking, fitness
• Online access to medical, counselling and nutrition advice

To participate, please sign up at our dedicated website, follow on Twitter @wellbeingdayIRL and highlight your own workplace wellbeing activities in the run up to and on National Workplace Wellbeing Day 2020.