Employee wellness survey: 40 questions and how to use them

Why run a wellness survey

Wellbeing affects attendance, safety, turnover and customer service. Many causes of poor wellbeing at work, such as unpredictable schedules, understaffing, long stretches without breaks and poor communication, are within an employer’s control. A wellness survey helps you find which ones matter most for your team and whether changes are working. It works best as part of a broader approach; see employee wellness programs.

EZTime announcements send updates to exactly the employees who need them, right on their phone.

How to design the survey

Questions about stress and workload

1. I can usually complete my work during my scheduled hours.
2. My workload is manageable most weeks.
3. I feel stressed by work more often than not. (reverse-scored)
4. There are enough people scheduled on my shifts to do the work properly.
5. I am able to take my breaks as scheduled.
6. I know what is expected of me at work.
7. I have the tools and equipment I need to do my job safely.

Questions about schedules and time

1. I receive my schedule early enough to plan my life.
2. Last-minute schedule changes are rare.
3. Shifts, weekends and holidays are shared fairly.
4. I have enough rest between shifts.
5. It is easy to request time off or swap a shift.
6. I can disconnect from work outside my working hours.
7. My current number of hours meets my needs. (Options: too few, about right, too many)

Schedule-related questions are especially important for hourly teams. See right to disconnect and clopening shifts.

Questions about physical wellbeing at work

1. I feel physically safe at work.
2. The physical demands of my job are reasonable.
3. I can report safety concerns without fear of negative consequences.
4. My work area is comfortable (temperature, lighting, noise).
5. I have access to water and somewhere to rest during breaks.

Questions about support and relationships

1. My manager cares about my wellbeing.
2. I feel comfortable asking my manager for help.
3. I feel respected by my coworkers.
4. My work is recognized when I do a good job.
5. I feel I can raise problems without being blamed.
6. I feel part of a team.

Questions about financial wellbeing and benefits

1. I am paid accurately and on time.
2. I understand how my pay is calculated.
3. I am aware of the benefits available to me.
4. Which of these would most improve your wellbeing? (Options: more predictable schedule, more hours, fewer hours, more flexibility, better breaks, more recognition, training, other)
5. How satisfied are you with the time off available to you?

Pay accuracy matters more to wellbeing than many employers realize. See common payroll errors.

Overall and open questions

1. Overall, how would you rate your wellbeing at work? (1 to 10)
2. How likely are you to recommend working here to a friend? (0 to 10)
3. Compared with six months ago, is work having a better, similar or worse effect on your wellbeing?
4. What is one thing we could change that would most improve your wellbeing at work?
5. Is there anything else you would like to tell us?

What not to ask

Wellness surveys must not become medical questionnaires. Avoid questions about specific health conditions, disabilities, medications, mental health diagnoses, pregnancy or family medical history. The Americans with Disabilities Act restricts disability-related inquiries, and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act generally prohibits employers from requesting family medical history. If you offer a formal wellness program with health questionnaires, get legal advice on how those programs must be structured. Keep this survey about work and the workplace.

A free benchmark from the CDC

If you want to go beyond a survey, the CDC offers a free tool for employers:

• The CDC Worksite Health ScoreCard has 154 questions that help employers assess how well their workplace uses evidence-based health promotion strategies. Source: CDC Worksite Health ScoreCard
• The CDC suggests assessing employees’ needs and interests, informally or through surveys, before choosing wellness strategies. Source: CDC ScoreCard manual

A simple way to combine them: run your employee survey first to learn what people want, then use the ScoreCard to see what your workplace already offers. The gap between the two is your wellness plan.

How to analyze the results

Start with the simple numbers: for each rating question, the average score and the share of people who agree or strongly agree. Then look for patterns rather than single answers. Compare locations, departments or shift types where groups are large enough to stay anonymous; night and weekend teams often report very different experiences from weekday day shifts. Compare with the previous survey to see what has moved.

Read every open answer and group them into themes, such as scheduling, staffing, breaks, managers or pay. Count how often each theme appears. A theme that shows up in many comments and also in low scores on related rating questions is a strong candidate for action. Be careful not to over-react to a single strongly worded comment, and never try to identify who wrote it.

Turning results into action

1. Share a summary with the team within a few weeks, including uncomfortable findings.
2. Pick two or three priorities, such as schedule notice, break coverage or recognition.
3. Assign owners and deadlines for each change.
4. Report progress in team meetings and announcements.
5. Run the same questions again in six to twelve months to see what changed.

Employees stop answering surveys when nothing happens. Visible follow-through is what makes the next survey worth running. See how to get feedback from employees.

Running the survey with EZTime

EZTime’s company feed supports surveys and open questions that employees answer on their phones on any shift, and results export to Excel for analysis. Announcements let you share results and follow-up actions with the whole team. See employee surveys.

Frequently asked questions

Where to go next