Employee wellbeing days and optional participation

A wellbeing day exists to look after people. The way it is photographed should do the same. Staff attend for many reasons, some of them private. Some join every session and others only watch. Photography has to leave room for all of them. This page sits within our guide to employee engagement and retreat photography.

What does the employer want to record?

The honest answer is usually the event: that it happened, who took part and what was on offer. A record might show a stretching session, a healthy meal, a talk by an invited speaker and staff chatting between stations.

Be clear about the purpose. An internal recap, a newsletter and a recruitment page are different uses, and each calls for different permissions. Our guide to images for internal communications and employee recognition explains how they differ.

Optional participation, optional photography

Taking part in a wellbeing session should be optional, and so should appearing in a photograph. Tell employees before the day that a photographer will be present, what the images are for and how to opt out.

An opt-out should be simple and discreet. A coloured sticker, a word to the team lead or a sign at the entrance are all possible. Ask us how our photographer can recognise it quickly. The ideas in our guide to camera-shy adults at a photographed event apply here too.

What stays outside the brief?

Some parts of a wellbeing day are private by nature. These may include health screening, one-to-one consultations, counselling and treatment areas. Whether any photography is appropriate there is for the provider and the individuals to decide, not the photographer.

The safest approach is to mark them as outside the brief, and photograph only the public parts of the day, such as the entrance, the signage and the group sessions where people are comfortable. The service providers may also have their own rules, so ask them.

What can captions say?

Captions describe the event. "Staff at a lunchtime yoga session" is accurate. "Staff reducing stress" is a claim the photograph cannot support. We do not make wellbeing claims from photographs, and we do not ask about anyone's health.

If you want to report on outcomes, use survey results or provider reports, not images. Our event photograph caption worksheet can hold agreed wording.

A clearly hypothetical example

Imagine a one-day wellbeing event at an office for 120 staff, with a yoga session, a nutrition talk, a mindfulness corner and a health-screening room run by an outside provider. Staff received a note beforehand about photography and a sticker option.

The plan has the photographer cover the entrance, the yoga session, the talk and the shared lunch. The mindfulness corner is photographed only from a distance and with consent. The screening room is not part of the brief. The organiser approves the selection before it goes in the newsletter.

Respecting differences in comfort

People at a wellbeing day may feel exposed, tired or simply private. Read our guide to comfortable and inclusive event photography and the page on employee events with different levels of photography comfort for further ideas. For employees who would rather not join group activities, see quieter photo opportunities.

Working with providers and speakers

Wellbeing days often bring in outside providers: instructors, nutritionists, counsellors. Each has professional rules about privacy and about their clients. Introduce the photographer to each provider at the start and ask what they are comfortable with. A provider who declines photography at their station is making a reasonable decision, and the organiser should pass it on to the team.

What to tell the photographer

• The programme, with sessions and stations.
• Areas that are outside the brief.
• The opt-out method and how we recognise it.
• Caption rules.
• How the images will be used and who approves them.

What affects the plan and cost

The length of the day, the number of stations, venue size and the deliverables are the main factors. The photo sharing and privacy plan helps you decide how images are shared. Your quotation sets out the coverage window and the deliverables in writing.