Playing sports on company premises, during working hours, the practice is not yet very developed. The two MPs, Aude Amadou, the Republic on the move, and Maud Petit, of the MoDem, have done their accounts: according to them, only 18% of French companies offer these services to their employees. Another survey, conducted in 2018, put forward an even more modest figure. With 14% of managers who said that their company offered physical and sports activities to their employees. Too bad: when this is the case, still according to the same study conducted by the Medef, 94% of employees say they appreciate the approach.
It must be said that the advantages are numerous. Pushing iron at lunchtime, chaining strides on a treadmill, doing an hour of yoga: all of this during the workday is beneficial. This same Medef study estimated that such measures were able to reduce absenteeism by 5.6%, reduce health expenditure by 300 euros per person per year and retain employees. A major issue right now. the turnover workforce would also be reduced by 3.2%.
The deputies cite as an example the town hall of Poissy where the 850 employees have been able to practice for five years, two hours of physical activity per week during their working time. It can be Nordic walking, badminton or relaxation. The results are clear: reduction in stress at work, improvement in the social climate and a drop of 750 days per year in absenteeism.
The two MEPs already want us to talk about physical and sports activities, to encompass a whole range of offers relating to health and well-being, without necessarily recalling the dimension of competition between employees and without expectation of performance individual. They also want to extend the practice to administrations, which they say are lagging behind on the subject. They propose, in all, around twenty measures, including training for occupational health services on the issue, the appointment of an APS referent in the company, and the creation of a sports ticket for employees under 250 employees.