21 companies have been awarded the first HFC (Health Friendly Company) certificate by Fondazione Onda, the national observatory on women’s and gender health. The new recognition was awarded to companies that have distinguished themselves for their commitment to protecting the health and well-being of their employees or have started a process in this direction.
Milan, 15 April 2021 – Fondazione Onda, the National Observatory on women’s and gender health, has awarded the HFC certificate to companies that have distinguished themselves in guaranteeing the protection of the health of their employees or that have started a virtuous path in this direction. Health Friendly Company (HFC) is Onda’s new project, which offers biennial recognition to organizations that have shown that they care about women’s mental and physical well-being, demonstrating their willingness to support them in the process of information and awareness on health of women, primary prevention, and mental health.
“The Covid-19 emergency has led us to reflect on how even more important it is to protect and promote health in all areas of life, including work,” says Francesca Merzagora, President of Fondazione Ond. “In this context, we believe that companies can play a very active role in terms of welfare by providing their employees with all the tools necessary to preserve and protect their health in serenity and safety. The HFC project is on the one hand a corporate recognition, on the other a way to encourage companies to do more and better in the field of gender health. Attention to the health of employees, not just women, and the introduction of new welfare practices could also consequently favor female employment”.
According to Istat, in fact, out of 10 jobs only 4 are occupied by women and only one woman out of two is employed in Italy, confirming the fact that the work environment does not favor female employment. The numbers also show how much the pandemic is making the situation worse: most of the workers who have lost their jobs are women. Compared to December 2019, in fact, there are 444,000 fewer workers, 312,000 of whom are women.
In the first year, companies that have obtained the stamp, for this first edition we are talking about a pool of around 65,000 employees, will be offered a training course consisting of 3 periodic scientific in-depth meetings on gender health, mental health and lifestyles, publications in e-book format on the same topics and health video pills on lifestyles, mental health, and migraine. In the second year, however, the training course will be built starting from the needs of the companies, which will select the issues to be addressed.
Difa Cooper Plaque for Healthy Friendly Company
The attribution of the certificate takes place on the basis of a questionnaire structured on specific requirements and validated by a specific Advisory Board. Includes questions related to the company’s commitment to protecting the health of its employees, including attention to corporate welfare, such as compensation, flextime, smart working, gender-based sexual harassment in the workplace, policies to support motherhood and of the family, to the promotion of information campaigns with the aim of facilitating the assumption of correct lifestyles. From what has emerged, mental health and attention to lifestyles are the areas in which companies have shown to be most sensitive. There are also many companies that have enhanced their services for employees by responding to the needs that emerged in the Covid-19 era (digital services, counters, etc.).
To read the complete press release: https://ondaosservatorio.it/ondauploads/2021/03/Comunicato-stampa.pdf
