27 Ways To Cut Labor Costs Without Layoffs
In Your Health & Wellness Business

Layoffs are hard on everyone - health and wellness businesses  that lose good people, managers who deliver the message, and employees who lose jobs, benefits, and their workplace community.

Yet labor is the single biggest expense for nearly all health and wellness businesses - health clubs and fitness centers, corporate wellness providers, yoga studios, healthy eating and weight loss programs and many more.

Fortunately, you've got lots of options for cutting labor costs without laying off valuable employees like health coaches, dietitians, personal trainers, yoga instructors, fitness professionals, and others.

Do some of these ideas make you squeamish? They shouldn't.

I guarantee you that your employees will prefer any or all of these if the alternative is unemployment.

1) No early clock-ins. Not even five minutes. Establish a policy that shifts start when scheduled and not before.

2) Clock out early. Slow day? Offer a small reward to employees who take the initiative and clock out early.

3) Mandatory days off. Just what it sounds like.

4) Unpaid holidays. Require employees to take an extra - unpaid - day off following a paid holiday.

5) Overtime. It's at least time-and-a-half, so stop all of it. No exceptions.

6) Voluntary reduction in hours. Encourage employees who are willing to work fewer hours to raise their hands.

7) Shorter workweek. Implement a four-day workweek. Adjust salaries accordingly for anyone who's not paid hourly.

8) Require employees to take an unpaid leave. Continue their benefits during this period. When one employee returns from unpaid leave, rotate another employee onto unpaid leave.

9) Unpaid vacation. Require employees to take a certain number of unpaid vacation days.

10) Unpaid holidays. Same holidays as always - without pay.

11) Buyouts. Offer lump-sum severance to anyone who wants to leave voluntarily. You can cap the number of buyouts you're willing to offer.

12) Board member, executive and senior management pay. Cut it.

13) Bonuses. Suspend cash payments.

14) Across-the-board pay cut. Reduce everyone's pay by a certain percentage.

15) Freeze pay increases.

16) Freebies, perks and extras. Eliminate free logo apparel, cellphone reimbursement and company vehicles.

17) T&E. Lower the limits on company-paid meals and entertainment - or cut it out altogether. Eliminate all but absolutely essential travel.

18) Employee benefit contributions. Increase them, permanently or temporarily.

19) Employer match. Reduce it, permanently or temporarily.

20) Work done by temps. Temps give you schedule flexibility - at a price. Reassign their work to full-time employees underutilized due to your business downturn.

(And if you must use temps, try to hire experienced people you've had to let go in the past. Because they're temps, you won't pay benefits.)

21) Convert temps. Again, temps are expensive. If you need the person, convert him or her to a part-time employee at an hourly rate which is almost certainly lower.

22) Reassign work across lines. Yes, managers can lead classes or sell. Yes, fitness floor staff and health coaches can clean locker rooms. Yes, trainers can lead group fitness classes or restock shelves.

23) Job sharing. Two people who each prefer part-time schedules can do the work of one. Let employees know you're open to creative ideas.

24) Flexible work schedules. Different schedules for different people. Different schedules on different days. Different schedules for different weeks. Start super-early, leave at noon. You get the idea.

25) Unpaid sabbaticals. A voluntary unpaid leave.

26) Full or part-time telecommuting from home. Saves on office costs - space, utilities, janitorial services, and more.

27) Volunteer opportunities. Not busy? Volunteer employees to another business to help out - ideally a business that would be a strategic connection for you or provide referrals.