creating a healthy workplace: a guide for canadian employers.

Building a healthy workplace starts with protecting your team's physical and psychological safety. Cold and flu season brings unique challenges to Canadian workplaces each year, making the creation of healthy work environments a key requirement for long-term success. As temperatures drop and people spend more time indoors, the risk of catching respiratory illnesses rises. These common seasonal viruses can spread quickly through offices, warehouses and other work environments where people gather in close quarters.

Canadian businesses face real impacts when illness spreads through their workforce. Lost productivity, increased sick days and lower staff morale can affect operations. But while seasonal illness is a fact of life, organizations can take practical steps to reduce its impact and boost employee well-being.

Smart preparation and clear workplace policies make a difference. When managers prioritize health and safety measures during cold and flu season, they create better conditions for their staff, leading to higher job satisfaction. The following tips outline how Canadian companies can support workers' health and maintain a healthy workplace during peak illness seasons.

encourage employees to wash their hands frequently

Proper handwashing stands out as the most effective defence against seasonal illness. While food-service workers know this practice by heart, it's essential in every workplace — from construction sites to corporate offices. Clean hands reduce virus transmission dramatically, with key moments like bathroom breaks and mealtimes being crucial checkpoints in your daily routine.

Make it simple for your team to build good habits. Put up clear, friendly reminders near sinks about proper technique: 20 seconds with soap, thorough rinsing and complete drying. Consider posting step-by-step guides that show the right way to clean between fingers, under nails and around thumbs. These subtle prompts can transform casual rinses into proper handwashing that truly protects your workforce.

provide alcohol-based sanitizer to employees

Stock up on alcohol-based hand sanitizer — it's your second line of defence against seasonal bugs. While it shouldn't replace proper handwashing, sanitizer adds an extra layer of protection to your workplace health routine.

Make access quick and convenient. Place automatic dispensers in high-traffic zones like your lobby, lunchroom and meeting spaces. Consider offering personal-sized bottles to staff members who work away from sanitizer stations. The touchless dispensers are particularly clever: they cut down on shared contact points, reducing the chance that germs will spread from person to person.

regularly clean the physical environment

Common or public areas are a breeding ground for cold and flu illnesses. Clean them frequently with anti-bacterial cleaners to curb the spread of germs and viruses. Have a professional cleaning crew regularly clean all surfaces in your workplace. Areas such as lunchroom countertops, doorknobs, coffee machines and bathrooms that are touched by many people should be cleaned daily. Also, encourage employees to keep their personal workspace (desk, keyboard, etc.) spick and span.

keep your distance

Professional greetings like handshakes and cheek kisses might feel natural in business settings, particularly with new contacts or colleagues reuniting after time apart. Yet these friendly gestures create perfect conditions for passing along seasonal bugs.

Take the lead in changing these customs during cold and flu season. Set clear expectations across your organization and suggest alternatives like a friendly wave or verbal greeting. Most people will appreciate the consideration for their personal health. Sometimes, a handshake feels unavoidable—in those cases, keep hand sanitizer close by and wash your hands at the next opportunity.

be careful when sharing snacks or food in common areas

Contagious illnesses are often picked up in communal areas — that’s doubly true when food is involved. Snack bars and shared food have become a relatively common perk in many workplaces. While there’s nothing wrong with providing snacks to employees, make sure proper hygiene is used when serving them. Avoid community bowls or large packages employees must reach into with their hands. Instead, opt for individually packaged servings or sanitized serving utensils.

dispose of garbage frequently

Empty the garbage bins in your workplace frequently. Have a daily routine in place to empty all garbage receptacles, whether they’re in common areas or individual workspaces. Do not wait until garbage bins are ‘full’ to empty them. Garbage bins can be a breeding ground for harmful bacteria or mould that can cause or spread employee illness if not cleaned often enough.

encourage sick employees to stay home

When ill employees drag themselves to work — a practice known as presenteeism — they undermine the healthy workplace you’re trying to build. A single person with a cold or flu can quickly spread illness through an entire department. Beyond being unfair to colleagues, this pattern reduces productivity across your whole team.

Why do people come to work sick? The reasons often boil down to money and workplace culture. Hourly workers without paid sick time might worry about lost wages. Others feel intense pressure to show up no matter what. They might see recovery time as lost productivity, face heavy workloads or fear career consequences. Some even wear their 'power through' mindset as a badge of honour.

This approach backfires for both employees and organizations. When staff members don't take proper time to recover, they extend their illness, perform below their usual standard and risk infecting their colleagues. One person's cold can trigger a chain reaction that affects your entire operation.

Communicating your expectations for sick employees is critical. Here are some ways to ensure sick employees feel comfortable taking time off to recover:

• Make sure all employees know that if they’re feeling unwell, they should stay home and that this is expected.
• Take the stigma out of being sick. Have no expectations when an employee calls in sick, and never encourage employees to ‘work through’ an illness, even if the illness is a relatively minor one, such as a cold. Never berate or insult a sick employee for using too much sick time or question if they’re dedicated to their job.
• Offer paid sick time, especially to hourly employees. Also, ensure they feel comfortable using it by not requiring doctors’ notes or other ‘proof,’ which can be time-consuming or costly to obtain.
• Have a ‘work from home’ policy. Allowing employees to work from home can be a good middle ground if an employee doesn’t feel well enough to be at work (or may be contagious) but feels healthy enough to get some tasks done.

restrict unnecessary travel for work

Close contact remains the primary way cold and flu viruses spread through a population. Public spaces pose particular risks, especially mass transit hubs and vehicles. When people crowd together in airports, planes, buses and trains, these enclosed spaces become perfect conditions for virus transmission.

Consider scaling back business travel during peak illness seasons. While some trips can't be avoided, many meetings work just as well through video calls. When you reduce unnecessary travel, you lower your team's exposure to seasonal illnesses. This practical step protects both your employees' health and your organization's productivity.

keep employees informed

Employee empowerment begins with knowledge. Provide your team with the tools and information they need to protect themselves during cold and flu season. Creating a healthy workplace requires regular communication about best health and safety practices and clear sick time policies.

Please keep in mind that all the information contained in this article is a guideline only. It is not a substitute for professional advice from medical or workplace health and safety experts. For more information about creating a healthy workplace during cold and flu season, please refer to these professional associations:

World Health Organization  Public Health Agency of Canada  The Public Health Agency of Canada (toll-free): 1-844-280-5020