The Northern Virginia HR consultants at Smart HR recently released a blog educating readers on why employers are offering mental health days to their employees. Though this benefit is relatively new, it has a significant positive impact on staff.

Most jobs can be stressful due to deadlines, conflicts with coworkers, understaffing, and more. These stresses can have a serious effect on mental health, making it more difficult for employees to enjoy their jobs, remain productive, and feel healthy outside of work. Self care in the office can help alleviate some of this stress. Many companies are offering breaks for meditation and yoga, late arrival and early dismissal days, and even additional personal or sick days that can be used when employees feel they need to take a day off for their own wellbeing. These benefits communicate the importance of self care to your entire staff and encourage them to take their mental health as seriously as their physical health.

Prioritizing mental health helps break the stigma surrounding it and creates healthier, happier employees. When your employees feel their workplace cares for them and their health, they will be more likely to enjoy their jobs and remain with the company for a longer period of time. This, in turn, allows you to attract and retain talented staff who can support the organization's growth. Healthier employees will also be more productive, as they'll have the energy they need to continue doing their best work. Finally, prioritizing health in the workplace creates a stronger office culture in which coworkers feel comfortable speaking openly about their needs, making it easier for employers to meet them and support their staff as effectively as possible.

Contact Smart HR for more information about mental health days and how to implement them in your workplace. Smart HR provides a variety of human resources services, including consulting, which is used to identify areas in which your company can improve before implementing plans with targeted goals to address them. Smart HR can be contacted at 703-952-3177 or online at https://www.smarthrinc.com/. The company is headquartered at 917 Prince Street, Alexandria, VA 22314 and serves businesses in the Northern Virginia, Washington D.C., and Maryland areas.

###