Employee Wellbeing Days: Benefits, examples, and how to implement them

• Wellbeing days support mental health and prevent employee burnout, giving staff dedicated time to recharge, re-engage, feel well and be productive.

   

• Manager support is the key to a successful wellbeing initiative. Managers should be trained to recognise the signs of stress and facilitate helpful conversations.

   

• Simple, flexible policies are the best way to start - Offering 2-4 days per year with a regular review of how people are using their wellbeing days.

For a long time, feeling overwhelmed with stress seemed to be an everyday, and even celebrated, occurrence in the workplace. However, more and more people are aware that work-related stress has become an epidemic, negatively impacting companies and their employees across the UK. 

Findings from the Mental Health UK Burnout Report 2025 indicate that young people are experiencing extreme pressure to perform at work to maintain their basic standard of living amid the cost-of-living crisis. Almost half of UK employees aged 18-24 report high stress levels due to the pressures of working regular unpaid overtime, and 56% of workers aged between 25-34 report high stress levels due to increased workload and volume of tasks.

Employee wellbeing days are a non-statutory leave type that is designed to support your staff's mental health, giving them some time away from their work tasks and preventing burnout.

Why would an employee use a wellbeing day?

When employees push themselves too hard at work, they might be doing so to complete more tasks for the company's benefit. However, overworked employees are detrimental to the company, as they'll be more likely to submit either rushed or mediocre work. Wellness days are designated time off that employees can use to recharge themselves, putting them in the right headspace for their jobs.

Employees may use their wellbeing day allowance to:

• Recover from stress
• Rest
• Attend medical appointments
• Catch up on exercise
• Take a break after an intense project
• Reconnect with family and friends

The concept is designed to encourage proactive wellbeing in the workplace that requires minimal to no explanation. Employers trust their employees to use this time for whatever best supports their wellbeing.

Why wellbeing days matter in modern workplaces

The expectations of work-life balance have shifted quite significantly over the past decade. Employees are increasingly drawn to workplaces that value and support mental health, balance and flexibility. Gone are the days where people expect to stay in the same job for life, so employers have to offer the best possible environment to keep valuable team members.

Without support, the consequences to staff can be:

• Burnout
• Drop in productivity
• Increased absenteeism
• Quiet quitting
• Increased employee turnover

There is also a culture of resenteeism and 'quiet cracking' on the rise within organisations that do not support their employees' well-being. Wellbeing days are one way that organisations can demonstrate a commitment to support for their staff and encourage a naturally more engaged, loyal and productive workplace.

The role of line managers in supporting wellbeing

Policies alone do not create a healthy workplace; managers also play a crucial role.

Line managers are generally responsible for monitoring employee workload, identifying the early signs of burnout. absence management and facilitating wellbeing conversations.

These responsibilities assume that all managers and supervisors in each department are trained and skilled in this area. As management style is a common contributor to workplace stress, the expectation that line management can adequately handle stress-related absences needs to be revised.

Managers should always be provided with communication training, workload management and mental health awareness to improve workplace interactions and make wellbeing initiatives more impactful.

When management understand the processes and impact, they are better equipped to support their teams effectively, giving wellbeing policies meaning.

For employers still worried that offering their employees wellbeing leave is counterproductive, Forbes reports that four-day workweeks that essentially give staff a weekly wellbeing day, have been tied to greater productivity. It is being meaningfully trialled worldwide as employees are focused on working smarter, not longer. 

Case in point, when Lendlease, an Australian construction company, started providing a wellbeing day per quarter, employees became more engaged, productive, and loyal to their employer. Australian companies are finding such success with wellbeing initiative that even the four-day working week could soon become the norm.

These initiatives make up a broader trend towards smarter, and more sustainable workplaces that support people's lifestyles.

Example wellbeing day policies

There are many ways to tackle the wellbeing day structure when creating your policy, the best idea is to keep it simple at first and continue ti review and develop it as you gain more insight.

Quarterly average wellbeing days

This is a popular choice for most companies trialling the policy over a year. Employees can receive one additional day of leave every three months, or have a 4-day limit per year that they can take as needed.

Company-wide reset days

This is when the entire company closes for a day to prevent any backlogs.

Flexible wellbeing leave

This is when employees can take days at any point they are experincing overwhelm and would benefit from a little bit of space from their work tasks.

The best approach is always one that fits your workplace culture and working patterns.

Wellbeing days can be extremely beneficial, but this does not mean they are without challenges.

Some of these challenges could revolve around uneven usage across different teams, which could be due to the nature of their work, their leadership or team dynamics. Some employees may feel unable to take wellbeing leave due to these factors and others. 

There may also be periods when workloads are heavy, and nobody takes wellbeing days, and then at the tail-end, there is an influx of wellbeing days. By nature, they should be permitted without question, like sick leave, but there can be a temporary disruption if many people on a team take them at the same time. 

It is important to use a reliable system to monitor patterns and assist with planning.

Managing wellbeing leave with Leave Dates

It is quick and easy to implement wellbeing days with a system that help your create and manage your policies.

Using Leave Dates, you can:

• Create custom leave types, like wellbeing days
• Assign the amount of time that each staff member is entitled to each leave type
• Allow employees to request time off on desktop and mobile in seconds
• Generate reports and track trends for employees, departments, or your entire business
• Ensure that everyone has clear visibility over absences

How to create a custom leave type in Leave Dates

Creating a healthier workplace

If employee wellbeing is a core value of your organisation, introducing wellbeing days will make your employees feel valued in a world full of pressure and stress.

However, it should be planned with potential challenges in mind and include appropriate management training to help prevent staff burnout. 

With careful planning and a clear focus on the 'care of' rather than 'performance of' employees, a policy on wellbeing days can be a positive change for your organisation.