HR Industry News

Government advisor demands one hour of exercise per day

— 26 October 2007 —

One of the government’s leading advisors has claimed that companies with over 500 employees should introduce an hour of physical exercise each day.

Professor Julian Le Grand, a former advisor to Tony Blair and currently chair of “Health England” has claimed that employees should be given the choice of opting-out of physical exercise, as opposed to opting-in.

For the fit employees, it is an insult; for employers with diverse workforces (such as Ceridian) it is not enforceable and the opt-out would be the easiest way for employers to comply. Far better to invest in tools which guide and prioritise employers about what the health challenges are before imposing a one size fits all approach. After all, how can you manage unless you can measure!

Paul Avis, Ceridian LifeWorks

His comments come after research was published that showed Britons as among the unhealthiest people in Europe, consuming less fruit and vegetables than any of their European counterparts. He also added that free fruit should be provided in offices and that salt should be banned from processed food.

Le Grand, who was speaking to the Royal Statistical Society, went on to propose the creation of a smoking permit which smokers would have to produce when buying cigarettes.

“We need new thinking and new ideas. We face new health challenges from obesity and old ones from smoking which add up to something of a crisis. There is a real risk that our children will die at a younger age than us," he said.

Paul Avis of Ceridian LifeWorks comments, “I recently met an employer who had a welfare budget of £5,000 per annum and spent £3,500 having fruit delivered on Mondays and Thursdays. When I asked the employer why they did this, they replied that it was simply because the employees liked it!

"What concerns me is that as an employer, they had an incredibly demanding client group with a committed workforce who probably worked over-long hours, hence possibly increasing stress and harming their work life balance. Therein lies the problem: without something such as a health risk appraisal process, it is easy to spend money and make efforts where they are not required. This is the concern about imposing physical exercise on employees.

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