Staff health checks become latest employee wellbeing initiative for law firm

A North West law firm has partnered with a specialist company to offer free health checks to all staff as part of its employee wellbeing strategy.

Harrison Drury has brought in Healthy Performance to carry out the checks which also review lifestyle factors to help staff understand any health risks and ways they can boost their overall health.

The onsite assessments – which include checks on blood pressure, cholesterol, heart rate and hydration levels – are the latest initiative brought in by the firm to promote a culture of health and wellbeing

It has also recently engaged the services of Advocacy Focus to provide a two-day mental health first aid training course, enabling the firm to create a team of trained mental health first aiders to help champion an open and supportive culture around mental health within the company.

Other initiatives to support employees include an employee assistance programme and health cash plans that enable staff to get money back on a wide range of every day healthcare costs, such as dental work, optometry, and a wide range of complementary therapies.

April-Jayne Barnes, HR manager at Harrison Drury, said: “Promoting employee health and wellbeing has long been a commitment of the firm and we’re always looking for new ways to support the overall health and happiness of our people.

“Our latest partnership with Healthy Performance is helping our colleagues to understand their current health risks through confidential pre-screening lifestyle questionnaires and health checks. We’ve had some great feedback from colleagues on the health checks.”

Staff member Bethany Potts said: “I’m grateful to work for a company that offers such great benefits to staff. It was great to be able to have a health check while at work and receive tips on how to improve my health, which were tailored to my lifestyle.”

Laura Dover, operations director at Harrison Drury, added: “We recently created a dedicated People, Health and Wellbeing committee to look for ways to improve the working lives of team members.

“Through this we’ve really been able to engage with team members at all levels and understand what is important to them and how we can help everyone work towards a healthy work/life balance.”

Other initiatives the firm has introduced in recent years include voluntary time off for employees to support local good causes. The firm has also made a commitment to embrace hybrid working to help support team members to balance their work and home lives.