Duty of Care: The Three Types of Employers
The most successful companies are those that go above and beyond when it comes to their employees’ health by fulfilling their employer’s duty of care.
One of the most frequent questions we get from customers is what “duty of care” means in the workplace. But, when it comes to duty of care, there isn’t just a box to check. Preparedness and readiness come on a spectrum. The most successful companies are those that go above and beyond when it comes to their employees’ health and safety.
Which Type of Employer Are You?
When considering duty of care, there are three categories of employers:
- The Uninformed Employer
- The Bare Minimum Employer
- The Employee-first Employer
Why Putting Employees First Matters
Trust can go a long way for your company. A study by the Harvard Business Review found that, compared with people at low-trust companies, people at high-trust companies report:
- 74% less stress
- 106% more energy at work
- 50% higher productivity
- 13% fewer sick days
- 76% more engagement
- 29% more satisfaction with their lives
- 40% less burnout
Putting your employees first is a mindset, and once you adopt it, your employees will take notice. An employer’s duty of care to employees involves adopting that mindset and running with it.
Preparing for Ever-Changing Risks
Even if you do consider your organization to already be an employee-first employer, remember that fulfilling your duty of care responsibility is an ongoing process. Duty of care case law makes that clear. Risks are not static, so your approach to managing risk can’t be either. It is imperative that organizations continuously seek out ways to more effectively protect employees from illnesses, injuries, and fatalities.
Ensuring you can meet your duty of care obligations requires you to stay up-to-date on ever-changing employment laws, for all regions in which your company operates. It requires you to constantly monitor threats and risks across the globe. It requires you to regularly re-assess and adjust contingency plans, and create a duty of care policy.
No one said fulfilling an employer’s duty of care to employees was going to be easy, but it will be worth it. Make sure you are doing everything you can to ensure the safety of your people.
That starts with adopting a modern communication platform that is versatile enough to overcome the unknowns. And it ends with happier, more productive employees—because putting your employees first pays off.
