When Portugal went back into lockdown, the tiredness was visible across the team. The pandemic had left a real mark on our mental and physical health, and we could feel it in every meeting.
We wanted to do something concrete about it. So we built our first Mental Health and Wellness Month: one hour a week dedicated entirely to activities that would help our people stay well. It worked so well that we kept going. Today, it is a permanent part of how we work at Damia.
Why an employee wellness program matters
Mental health is harder to measure than blood pressure or cholesterol. But when your work is with people, it deserves the same attention. Companies with proper mental health benefits are significantly less exposed to burnout, especially in a fully remote or hybrid setting.
2020 took us by surprise. It pushed us to grow, to sharpen our internal processes, and to look honestly at our culture. Were we creating the conditions for people to be emotionally well at work, or not? That question shaped everything that followed.
At Damia, we do not want a workplace where people feel they have to hide their emotions. Our culture asks people to bring their real selves to work, which means sharing the good days and being supported through the harder ones.
What our wellness program looks like
Our employee wellness program covers six areas.
1. Weekly healthy recipes
Every week, we share simple recipes that are easy to prepare at home. Work-life balance includes finding time to cook a proper meal for yourself and your family. We make sure the recipes are actually good.
2. Positive affirmations
Recognition matters. When appreciation is consistent, people are happier in their roles and their overall quality of life improves. We build small moments of recognition into the week rather than saving them for a review cycle.
3. Yoga class
Adding a weekly yoga session to the calendar supports wellbeing and builds team spirit. Healthy people make healthy companies, and it is genuinely fun. Challenging, but fun.
4. Psychologist talk
We bring in a specialist psychologist to help the team adapt to the new working reality. She shares evidence-based practices and offers a space to talk about the harder parts of remote and hybrid work.
5. Nutritionist Q&A and snack workshop
No food or supplement will prevent COVID-19, but a healthy diet supports the immune system and helps manage anxiety and stress. We invited a nutritionist to answer questions from the team and run a short healthy-snack workshop.
6. Everyday benefits that help people switch off
At the base of our business is a simple idea: health first. Some of what we do sits underneath the visible program:
- Quarterly 1:1 conversations with HR to hear concerns early
- Proper breaks encouraged, not just tolerated
- Healthy snacks in the office (with the honest admission that the first two lockdowns saw a few unhealthy ones too, balance is real)
- Partnerships with local gyms and a variety of physical activities
- A health insurance plan that fully covers COVID-19
- Psychological and emotional support included, not treated as an add-on
Why this matters beyond Damia
A global shift is happening in how companies think about wellness. Building a real strategy, not a marketing page, is now table stakes for a healthy business.
A wellness action plan does not need to be complex. What matters is that it is genuine, that communication runs both ways, and that the outcomes are stated plainly. As the world of work keeps evolving, one of the clearest signs of a serious employer is the quality of their wellness program.
Whatever your context, most teams can benefit from something: access to psychological support, generous annual leave, an insurance plan that actually covers mental health, time with family, and a culture where finishing at 9pm every night is not treated as normal.
That is the standard we hold ourselves to. Not because it is fashionable, but because it is the only way to build a company people want to stay at.
Curious about working with a team that takes this seriously? See our current tech roles at Damia, or read how we run feedback.
