EXCLUSIVE: The Biochemical Society will host an onsite massage day for its 70 employees at the end of September.
The employer-paid benefit, which is provided by On Site Massage, is offered to employees four times a year. It was launched more than 10 years ago with Indian head massages, while acupressure has been added in 2013.
Alison McWhinnie, group head of HR and corporate affairs at The Biochemical Society, said: “This is a benefit our staff absolutely love and when I send the email round giving details of the next massages, I can fill the bookings within minutes of pressing the send button, often ending up with a reserve list as well.
The free onsite massages can be booked via email in half-hour sessions. McWhinnie added: “Because so much of our work is computer based these days we thought this would be a good way of relaxing muscles used.
“We also need to be aware of stress building up in the workplace. If people are going through a difficult period at any point, having onsite massages would be good for them.”
The Biochemical Society also offers employees periodic workshops on personal safety, positive thinking, stress management, meditation and nutrition. “We have also done time-management courses as well, because if people feel they can’t manage their time that can add to stressful feelings,” said McWhinnie.
“People from all departments go on them. We do quite a lot of our training in-house like that because we find it is a good way to mix people up between departments to break down barriers and get people working together across teams.”
