Abstract
The importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices has grown since the tourism industry relies on local communities, human resources, and the environment. The industry is expected to demonstrate suitable corporate behavioural standards, such as enhancing workers' lives through wellness management. Businesses could assist the industry to pursue economic progress and improve the quality of life of employees, their families, and the local population in general through the implementation of CSR. Corporate social responsibility can further be used as a tool to promote employee wellness within the workplace. Employee wellness in the work environment has been concerned with improving workers' health and wellbeing through CSR initiatives intended to promote productivity, job satisfaction, and health management, such as offering support and assistance to employees affected by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The effect of the HIV and AIDS epidemic in South Africa has been felt by many businesses. The tourism industry is particularly vulnerable because it has a varied range of workplaces, involves regular interactions between workers and clients or tourists, as well as interactions between tourists on the one hand and the locals and workers in the industry on the other. The purpose of this study was to develop a proposed CSR policy framework that will assist the tourism industry in managing employee wellness, such as HIV and AIDS. The research study employed a purely qualitative approach while in-depth interviews (IDIs) were conducted to gather primary data. The study collected data using a semi-structed interview schedule. A total of 18 IDIs were successfully conducted among tourism employees in the municipal boundaries of Buffalo City and Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape Province. The data was analysed through the NVivo version 11 software with the assistance of a statistician. This revealed that a CSR policy framework was highlighted as a need for the tourism industry as some businesses do not have the knowledge to develop a policy that specifically caters to the wellness of their employees. The study further revealed that businesses do not have the resources to implement these CSR initiatives owing to lack of finances. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic also posed a further challenge for most businesses as they were trying to survive. Overall, the study contributes to the existing literature and theory, and to CSR policy development in the tourism industry of the Eastern Cape. The study reveals how CSR
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may be utilized as a tool to manage employee wellness, with particular reference to HIV and AIDS in the workplace.
Keywords: Corporate social responsibility, employee wellness, tourism industry, Eastern Cape, Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome