The health of a company’s employees is its most important asset. Employees who are absent due to illness, overwork or other ailments cost money, time and resources. Importantly, however, these absences are often due to problems not being recognized in time. This is possible with modern working time recording.
Protect your mental health
The topic of overwork and burnout is nothing new. Time and again, we hear about employees and entrepreneurs who exceed their limits due to overwork. One of the reasons for this is that they do not keep to their working hours or simply have no overview of them. Persistent stress and excessive demands on employees can lead to severe mental problems. Burnout is a serious illness and a burden not only for employees, but also for managers. As an employer, however, you have the opportunity to work against overload. To do so, it is particularly important that you keep a close eye on your employees’ working hours.
Improve your health
To improve the health of your own employees, it is not enough to keep an eye on their working hours yourself. All employees must be considered individually. Not every employee pays attention to the hours they work. It is therefore important to make staff aware of the importance of adhering to working hours, rest periods and breaks. Even if employees like to work more than they have to, this is not always healthy. As an employer, you want your employees to stay healthy. This is best achieved if your staff are also interested in not overworking themselves. What sounds strange is actually a problem in many companies. Many employees voluntarily do more work than they should or have to and thus burn off their energy in the long term. Productivity and morale suffer in the long term as a result.
Modern working time recording for better health
The question that arises is: Who is responsible for health in the workplace? Employer or employee? The answer is clear: employers are obliged to ensure health and safety in the workplace. Employers are also obliged to comply with the Working Hours Act (ArbZG). In combination, you are therefore doubly covered with a modern method for recording working hours. You have control over compliance with the ArbZG and recognize early on if there is a risk of overwork. With a modern working time recording system such as timeCard, you have complete insight into your employees’ working times. You can see at a glance whether your employees are complying with the prescribed break times and rest periods. How much overtime do your employees work? At what times do your employees start working from home and when do they finish work? All of this affects the health of your employees. Burnout and the resulting absence from work can be the result. With timeCard, you can keep an eye on working hours and react at any time if you feel that your employees are overworking.
Short-term illnesses as a warning signal
What many employers – and employees – underestimate are the first warning signs of overload and the threat of burnout. In particular, employees who are frequently absent for short periods could suffer from overload. Only with further stress do the absences increase until it comes to a bang, so to speak, and nothing works at all. Absenteeism can also be a strong indicator of impending burnout. Employers also have to keep an eye on the performance of their employees. If you notice that an employee is no longer performing as well as usual and productivity is suffering, this may be due to exhaustion and underutilization. In such cases, act in good time, for example by redistributing tasks and relieving the employees concerned. A temporary reduction in working hours can also be useful. In this case, too, time recording helps you to optimize and control these working hours.
Conclusion
Burnout is a serious danger in all companies. There are signs that you as an employer should be aware of. A modern system for recording working hours can help you with this. Keep track of your employees’ working hours, overtime and rest breaks in order to counteract overwork, excessive workloads and exhaustion in advance. To do this, you can, for example, shorten the working hours or ensure relief by redistributing tasks. A healthy work-life balance keeps employees healthy and productive in the long term. This benefits both employers and employees.
