Health Support
Family Friendly New Mexico – Business Toolkit
Creating a positive, safe and healthy workplace increases morale, improves employee work-life balance and positively impacts business (White House Council of Economic Advisors, 2014). Healthier employees are absent less, are motivated to stay in a job, and often recover from sickness quicker. Healthcare benefits are optional for most employers but are critically important to most employees. Offering health insurance, other support such as breastfeeding locations and reasonable accommodations for conditions arising out of pregnancy, or wellness programs helps businesses attract and retain the most qualified employees. Healthy employees benefit employers.
Family Friendly New Mexico Recognizes Four Health Support Policies
Breastfeeding / lactation support
Breastfeeding / lactation support
Policies that support employees who choose to continue providing their milk for their infants after returning to work. Since 1978 New Mexico state law allows breastfeeding in public places and requires employers to provide time and space for mothers to express milk. In 2010 a federal law was passed.
Wellness programs
Wellness programs
An organized, employer-sponsored program that is designed to support employees (and, sometimes, their families) as they adopt and sustain behaviors that reduce health risks, improve quality of life, enhance personal effectiveness, and benefit the organization’s bottom line. Can include wellness assessments & coaching, onsite preventative care, organized wellness activities and more.
Reasonable accommodations
Reasonable accommodations
Reasonable accommodations are designed to help adjust to employees who have special needs arising out of pregnancy or illness (avoiding heavy lifting, staying off ladders). Learn more about these laws by downloading the FFNM Toolkit: The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), The New Mexico Human Rights Act, The Federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Healthcare
(employer subsidized health or dental insurance)
Healthcare
Employer paid or subsidized health insurance, dental insurance, and/or vision insurance. Research continues to show that there is a clear return on investment for offering certain health support policies (wellness programs), or the costs level out over time (subsidized insurance). (Harvard Business Review, 2010)
Resources
Looking for more resources?
Download the Health Support Toolkit. Family Friendly New Mexico’s business toolkits provide research informed guidance for businesses wanting to implement family friendly workplace policies. The toolkit can serve as planning tools for small business owners, HR professionals, CEOs and others with resources, fact sheets, sample policies, testimonials and more.