Employee wellbeing

In this topic

What it is | Why it matters | Who it matters most for | What you can do

How to know if it's working | What the jargon means | How to learn more

What it is

A business is only as strong as the people behind it. When your team is happy, healthy and treated well, they show up with more energy, better ideas and greater loyalty. On the flip side, not meeting employment standards and fair work conditions can lead to high turnover or even legal trouble.

Employee wellbeing is about creating a workplace where people feel safe, respected, included and supported to do their best work. This guide walks through the essentials, from legal requirements like fair pay and health and safety, to building a positive culture, supporting mental health and enabling your team to grow and develop.

Why it matters

Around the world, millions of people face exploitation, unsafe environments or discrimination at work. These issues aren't always visible, but they affect health, families and entire communities, as well as business productivity.

Workplace wellbeing isn’t just about perks. It’s about dignity, safety and fairness. When employees are overworked, underpaid or excluded, it often leads to stress, mental health issues, burnout and inequality.

Small and medium businesses collectively employ around 50% to 70% of workers, depending on the country. That means while big businesses may get the spotlight, small businesses determine how at least half the workforce is treated. The way you support your team, no matter your size, makes a real difference.

And it’s not just the right thing to do. Businesses that invest in wellbeing see stronger performance, better retention and more resilient teams.

Sources: ILO, 2019; ILO, 2022; Gallup, 2025; Gallup; Workplace Research Foundation; PWC 2014

Who it matters most for

Prioritising employee wellbeing is especially important in roles where the risk of harm is higher. This includes jobs with physical hazards, exposure to chemicals or machinery, or where long hours and high stress are common. It’s also important in workplaces where people may be more vulnerable to mistreatment, such as casual or migrant workers, junior staff or those in isolated settings.

Even lower-risk workplaces can face issues like burnout, bullying and lack of clear expectations. Every business, regardless of size or industry, can take steps to protect and support their team.

What you can do

Here are some practical and impactful ways you can address employee wellbeing in your business.

Meet the employment essentials

Protect health and safety at work

Build a positive, inclusive culture

Promote mental wellbeing and balance

Engage and develop your team

Communicate your expectations and commitments

Meet the employment essentials

Employment contracts, minimum pay, leave entitlements and lawful working hours are non-negotiable. Yet many small businesses are unclear or inconsistent in applying them. Getting this right builds trust and reduces risk.

Make sure you're aware of your obligations under national or local laws concerning pay, working conditions, leave and dismissal, as well as relevant industry agreements and International Labour Organization (ILO) standards on fair and decent work; and strive to meet whichever standard is highest. If you’re unsure, seek help from your industry body or relevant government agency.

In case an issue does ever come up, it's also important to keep strong records, including payslips, timesheets and written agreements with every team member, even casuals and contractors.

Source: Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law 2025, Fair Work Ombudsman 2025

Quick actions you can take:

• Check whether your pay rates and entitlements are up to date with legal requirements and industry agreements
• Issue written contracts to all team members and direct them where to find information on their legal rights
• Provide information regarding how your employees can raise a concern if they think something isn’t quite right and invite regular discussions

Protect physical health and safety at work

Injuries and long-term health impacts can harm your team, your productivity and your reputation. Workplace health and safety (known as WHS, H&S or OHS) applies to all businesses, not just those using machinery or chemicals.

Create a safe workspace by identifying risks and putting controls in place to avoid them. This includes obvious physical hazards like machinery, tools or chemicals, but also less obvious ones like ventilation, noise levels, manual handling and temperature extremes. Use personal protective equipment (PPE), signage and routine equipment checks where needed.

Even desk jobs have their hazards, so for desk-based roles, consider ergonomics, screen time, standing desks, lighting and trip hazards. For all roles, support your team with safety information in onboarding, regular refreshers, and making it easy for them to raise concerns or report hazards

Source: American Society of Safety Professionals 2020

Quick actions you can take:

• Walk through your workspace to spot physical risks and collect input on hazards from your team
• Provide safety gear, signage and supervision where needed
• Establish a documented safety checklist or poster to support employee awareness

Build a positive, inclusive culture

Culture isn’t about beanbags or slogans. It’s how your team experiences work each day. A positive culture means people feel safe to speak up, trust their leaders, and feel that their contributions matter. When built on respect and inclusion, it helps people stay motivated and committed.

Inclusion means making space for different backgrounds, abilities and perspectives, and taking steps to ensure everyone feels welcome and respected, no matter how small your business. This includes avoiding assumptions, valuing diverse perspectives, using inclusive language, and ensuring people of all backgrounds are heard and represented in decisions.

Fair and inclusive hiring and promotion practices are also key. Check your job ads and interview processes for unintentional bias, and keep an eye on representation and pay equity across gender and other factors, especially as your business grows.

In small teams, culture is shaped quickly and visibly. How you lead, respond to conflict and include others sets the tone. Model respectful communication, make time for feedback and respond to poor behaviour early. Make it clear what behaviour is and isn’t okay, and act if someone is being excluded or harassed.

Source: Cloverpop, 2017

Quick actions you can take:

• Establish a code of conduct or workplace values that communicate clear expectations for behaviour, respect and speaking up
• Treat your team with respect in turn, inviting their input, and respond to poor behaviour early
• Identify opportunities to hire employees from different backgrounds or perspectives

Promote mental wellbeing and balance

Stress and burnout often appear quietly, as tiredness, disengagement or short tempers. Left unchecked, they can lead to extended leave, high turnover, poor performance and a toxic culture.

A safe mental work environment means people feel supported, treated fairly and able to raise concerns without fear, otherwise known as psychosocial safety. But things like excessive work demands, unclear roles, poorly managed change, lack of support, isolated work, bullying and harassment can put that safety at risk. These are known as psychosocial hazards.

Workplace health and safety laws in many countries have been updated to include requirements to manage these risks and identify, eliminate and manage them, just like physical risks. Meanwhile, addressing these issues boosts productivity, engagement and wellbeing.

Mental health issues don’t always stem from hazards at work. They can also arise from personal stresses or underlying conditions. Creating space for open conversations about mental health helps normalise the topic, reduce stigma, and make it easier for people to speak up if they’re struggling.

A supportive workplace can help by listening without judgement, offering flexibility, keeping workloads realistic, signposting professional help, or simply checking in regularly. Encourage your team to take regular breaks, use their leave and truly switch off after hours. Offer flexibility where the role allows, such as flexible start and finish times, work-from-home options, or compressed hours.

Some businesses also provide support through stress management resources and Employee Assistance Programs (EAP). Most importantly, set the tone yourself by modelling healthy work habits and respecting boundaries.

Source: WHO, 2024

Quick actions you can take:

• Demonstrate you care and prioritise wellbeing by checking on your team and letting them know you're available to listen
• Encourage breaks, taking leave, flexible work and switching off after hours
• Review current workloads with your team and adjust tasks or deadlines if they’re unrealistic

Engage and develop your team

People want to grow, develop and contribute to something meaningful. Providing feedback, recognition and development opportunities helps employees feel valued and motivated to grow.

Offer clear expectations and autonomy in their role, and involve them in decisions that affect their work. Recognise effort and show how it contributes to the bigger picture. This builds trust, accountability and engagement.

Even if you can't offer promotions, you can offer learning and new challenges. Ask what they want to learn and where they want to grow and look for ways to support that. Contributing to sustainability initiatives or developing new products and offerings can often be a particularly fulfilling growth opportunity.

Plotting a clear path for growth for your team, whether through training, new responsibilities or project leadership, can make a big difference in whether they stay and thrive.

Source: Gallup & Workhuman, 2024

Quick actions you can take:

• Schedule a regular 1:1 with key team members or a team check-in to give feedback and say thanks
• Ask your team members what areas they want to develop and identify opportunities to provide them training or mentoring

Communicate your expectations and commitments

Clarity builds confidence. When your team understands the rules of the road, they can focus on getting to the destination. Even small teams can benefit from simple written policies or one-pagers.

Document your values, expectations and processes in simple terms. This helps employees know what’s okay, what’s not, and where to turn if they need support. Common policies include a code of conduct, equal employment opportunity (EEO), anti-discrimination, bullying and harassment, health and safety, and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) commitments. These can also be combined into a single document for simplicity in a small business. A sample template is provided in the additional resources section below to get you started.

Include how employees can raise concerns if they observe something that doesn't meet the values or policies. This might be through a designated contact person, anonymous feedback box, or regular check-ins, which help to keep everyone accountable.

Refer to the policies and values regularly in onboarding, check-ins or team huddles. This builds shared understanding and shows you take these issues seriously.

Source: Visier 2023

Quick actions you can take:

• Create or update a simple employee handbook with key policies
• Outline expectations when onboarding new employees and in check-ins
• Make sure team members know who to talk to with concerns

How to know if it's working

Employee wellbeing isn’t always easy to measure, but tracking key people metrics helps you spot patterns and take action early.

Some common measures include:

• Engagement or wellbeing survey results: These are often collected through an annual survey, usually reported as average scores out of 10 or 100.
• Employee turnover rate: This measures how many people leave over a set period, usually calculated as the number of exits divided by average headcount, shown as a percentage. A high rate can point to poor culture, burnout or unmet expectations.
• Health and safety incidents: Tracking workplace injuries or sick days related to work is usually expressed as the number of incidents per year or per 100 employees.
• Gender pay equity: This is measured by the difference in average earnings between men and women doing similar work, represented as a percentage gap.
• Workforce diversity: Tracking representation across gender, age, ethnicity or other dimensions is usually represented as a percentage breakdown of your workforce across these categories.

These metrics can be difficult to measure with a small team, but will become more useful as you grow. In the meantime, regular check-ins, team reflections and exit chats can help you spot patterns and pick up on how your team is feeling without needing a formal metric.

If you do want to set targets, health and safety, engagement and turnover are common ones, but the numbers can vary widely depending on your industry and team structure. Start by establishing your own baseline, then aim to improve it. You can also often find industry benchmarks for context.

Diversity targets are often used in larger organisations, but may not make sense in small teams where one hire can significantly shift the numbers. Instead, proactively seek feedback from employees and potential hires to identify where you can improve.