Health bonuses at Pekkaniska

Pekkaniska’s health bonus system is widely known among Finnish people, especially the part that allows employees to go jogging in the middle of the day and even earn money by doing that. Supporting healthy lifestyle and sports activity of its employees has been part of Pekkaniska’s business culture since 1989 when Pekka Niska himself decided to launch the first health bonuses. Pekka’s goal was to improve the well-being at work and lower the quantity of sick leave days.

Recently made research about the health bonuses at Pekkaniska revealed the opinions of employees concerning the bonus system as well as its profitability from the employer’s point of view. Half of the participants told that doing sports during the business day lowered their stress levels and especially improved their motivation and well-being at work. Of course not all of the Pekkaniska’s employees are doing sports but they still are able to earn bonuses for not smoking or not using alcohol. Research also pointed out that every employee at Pekkaniska had earned at least one bonus during the last five years.

The quantity of the sick leave days among Pekkaniska’s employees is lower than the average. When the average number of sick leave days per one employee in Finland is 11 days per year (2013) at Pekkaniska the same number during the last five years has been only 5 days per year.

The well-being at work is becoming more and more important these days. Coping with busy life is easier when people are physically in better shape and have adopted a healthy lifestyle. Let’s all support our employees’ sports activity and healthy choices!