WHP governance
Workplace health management without a steering structure isn't workplace health management — it's a collection of random measures. Governance is the difference between ad-hoc activity and a system.
What is this field of action about?
A steering committee, a metrics system, a BEM (return-to-work) process, occupational-safety-committee (ASA) meetings: anyone who takes workplace health management seriously needs a governance structure. It creates commitment and measurability and helps keep track of legal obligations.
Why does this field of action pay off?
BEM is mandatory: § 167 (2) SGB IX obliges employers to offer BEM when employees have been unable to work for more than six weeks within one year, continuously or repeatedly (German law). Employers who fail to do so bear an extended burden of presentation and proof in an illness-related dismissal (Federal Labour Court, 20 Nov 2014 – 2 AZR 755/13).
Measures for WHP governance
The building blocks of effective workplace-health governance:
BEM Conversation Guide: Conducting the First Meeting in Six Steps
The invitation has been accepted, the date is set. Now someone who was ill for weeks is sitting across from you — and you are supposed to have a conversation t…
The BEM Invitation: What It Needs to Contain to Hold Up
The invitation is the document that matters later. It shows that BEM was offered, and it often decides whether someone accepts: a letter that sounds like contr…
The First BEM Case: From the Six-Week Threshold to Closure
Payroll notices it: a colleague has been on sick leave for more than six weeks in the last twelve months. That means Workplace Reintegration Management (BEM) i…
Introducing Recovery Conversations: Talk Early, Before It Becomes a BEM Case
Between “back again” and “off sick for six weeks” lies a lot of time in which nobody asks how things are going. A recovery conversation fills this gap: short, …
0 € · freeFormulate WHP goals SMART and track them automatically
Many WHP programs do not fail due to lack of commitment, but due to lack of measurement. If you cannot prove at the end of the year whether the sickness rate h…
0 € · freeVisualizing WHP maturity: The radar chart as a management tool
The GKV Prevention Guideline (version from December 17, 2025) describes workplace health promotion (WHP) not as a single measure, but as a management task: nee…
0 € · freeMicro-surveys in WHP: Honest feedback in 60 seconds
Many WHP managers know the problem: you have implemented a measure, but you don't really know what the staff thinks about it. The classic annual survey with 80…
0 € · freeDocumenting WHP measures: Step-by-step with template
Anyone who wants to have WHP measures under § 20b SGB V (German law) subsidized by a statutory health insurance faces an often underestimated hurdle: proof of …
0 € · freeWHP annual planning: Structured planning with the health calendar
Many are familiar with the typical pattern: back courses in January, a flu vaccination appointment in October — and little happens in between. Activities are o…
0 € · freeAbsenteeism & Bradford Factor: Measuring WHP Metrics Correctly
No data, no WHP – at least not one that has a lasting effect. Many companies start health programs based on gut feeling: low morale among staff, a sense of man…
0 € · freeWHP Dashboard: All KPIs at a Glance for Management
Many WHP managers collect data in various tools and spreadsheets – sick leave here, participant numbers there, maturity level somewhere in a presentation. The …
0 € · freeThe 5-Minute Feedback Form for the KVP Learning Cycle
Many WHP coordinators do not know whether a measure is effective after it has been implemented — because they never asked. The effort required for meaningful f…
0 € · free10-Minute Data Protection Audit for Employee Surveys
A common GDPR mistake in WHP does not occur when evaluating diagnoses — it happens during seemingly harmless employee surveys. Demographic questions that, in c…
0 € · freeThe 30-Minute Agenda for Your First Steering Committee Meeting
Many companies believe that a workplace health committee requires weeks of preparation. That's not true. The first meeting is not a strategy conference — it's …
0 € · freeThe Structured 4-Step BEM Rejection Protocol under § 167 Para. 2 SGB IX (German law)
An employee declines BEM. Briefly, sometimes curtly, often without giving a reason. HR nods — and moves on. Three years later, in a wrongful-termination disput…
Where do you stand on WHP governance?
The self-check (about 7 minutes) places you across all 10 fields of action.