Posts from — October 2008

Employee Wellness Initiatives and Health Care Costs

Employee Wellness Initiatives are more important now than ever.  A recent article in the Wall Street Journal, with the troubles in the economy it seems that the costs of business offered health care keep continuing to grow and it doesn’t seem like it is going to change.  The article states that during the year 2008, United States companies can expect to see an increase of 10% in health care costs.

This increase in health care costs is causing some small companies to reduce their employee health benefits or get rid of them altogether.

Employee Wellness Initiatives for Healthier Lifestyles

Employee Wellness Initiatives do provide an option for small companies.  The corporations can provide discounted co-pays and deductibles to those workers that fully participate in the offered Employee Wellness Program.  Full participation means getting health screens, receiving a health risk assessment, and then working with their wellness coordinator to work towards a healthier lifestyle.

The healthier the workers, the reduce the overall health care costs for the corporation.  Just one lengthy hospital stay can almost deplete a small business’ health care budget.

Employee Wellness Initiatives and Your Bottom Line

Employee Wellness Initiatives provide many advantages to a corporation’s bottom-line. Company Health Promotion Initiative Statistics from Prudential Insurance show a benefit expense of $312 per person enrolled in a Company Health Promotion Initiative compared to an expense of $574 per employee that wasn’t enrolled.  Coors Brewing Company showed a positive side-effect of participant absenteeism dropping by 18%, thus greater production and less health care costs overall.

Employee Wellness Initiatives are a fantastic investment, at least according to Lincoln industries in Nebraska.  CNN reported on this 565 employee organization their committed investment in their employee’s wellness.

Employee Wellness Initiatives are part of organization Culture

The Employee Wellness Programs, according the story, has been in place for 16 years at Lincoln, and it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.  The organization has three full-time workers dedicated to the Company Health Promotion Initiative and the wellness of the workers, who receive onsite massages and a round of instructor-led stretching before they start their shifts.

Employee Wellness Initiatives Assessed

According to CNN, one of the rules of the Employee Wellness Program, which workers are not mandated to participate in, is that they receive quarterly checkups where assessments are completed on their weight, amount of body fat and flexibility.  Based on these health assessments, the workers are then ranked from platinum all the way down to “non-medal”.  To become platinum level, where you receive a organization-paid climbing trip, you must achieve certain fitness levels and be a non-smoker.  Smoking cessation classes are part of the Employee Wellness Program.

Employee Wellness Initiatives Bring a Big Savings

The Company Health Promotion Initiative has been a smart investment for Lincoln Industries.  By having healthier workers, they have seen an average of $2 million in savings in health care costs per year.  The savings don’t stop there, since instituting a Employee Wellness Program, workers’ compensation claims have gone from $500,000 per year down to less than $10,000 per year.

Employee Wellness Initiatives Becoming Increasingly Popular

Employee Wellness Initiatives are Becoming Increasingly popular outside the workplace, showing the ever-increasing importance of disease prevention and health risk management.  Private insurance businesses, as well as state Medicaid and Medicare offices are working on ways to enhance the health of the people they insure in hopes to save money in the long run.  They are finding that mini-Company Employee Wellness Initiatives are definitely the way to go.

Employee Wellness Initiatives Aid in Early Intervention

A recent article that recently appeared in The Indianapolis Star, companies, insurers and government agencies are turning to “early intervention to alter the behavior of those struggling with common but dangerous health conditions, such as asthma, diabetes, heart failure and coronary heart disease.”

The tactics that they incorporated to enhance their beneficiaries’ wellness postcard reminders for different lab tests or check-ups; and possibly even phone calls from nurses to work with the patients to make sure that they are taking their medicines properly and following the lifestyle changes that were suggested by their health care provider.

Employee Wellness Initiatives Offer Quality Benefits

There are more benefits to a Company Health Promotion Initiative than just the savings that an business or a state agency will see; there is the benefit to the actually patient.  The patient is going to get the motivation and the incentive to get better or to manage their health risks by having to answer to someone, whether that someone is a full-time wellness employee at their organization or a nurse affiliated with their insurance organization.

Employee Wellness Initiatives are proven to improve productivity and lower health care costs.  For a business, that makes a difference in the bottom-line. Today, more than 81 percent of America’s businesses with 50 or more employees have some form of Company Health Promotion Initiative with the most popular being exercise, tobaccos cessation classes, back care programs, and stress management. Most employers offer Employee Wellness Initiatives simply because they think the benefit is worth the cost. Yet business leaders continue to ask themselves how to control huge annual increases in health insurance premiums and health care costs.

For many companies, medical costs can consume 50% of organization profits or more. Some employer’s look to cost sharing, cost shifting, managed care plans, risk rating, and cash-based rebates or incentives. But these methods merely shift costs. Only Employee Wellness Initiatives stand out as the long-term answer for keeping employees well in the first place.

Employee Wellness Initiatives are an example of health care reform that works. Results from America’s finest companies, summarized here, are reason enough to consider providing Employee Wellness Programs.  This investment in your most important asset – your employees – can have a positive impact on your bottom-line.

Company Health Promotion Initiative Statistics:

Providence Everett Medical Center, a member of the WELCOA, in Everett, Washington, saved an estimated 3 million or a cost-benefit ratio of 1 to 3.8 over 9 years of an outcomes-based Employee Wellness Program. By providing financial incentives ($250 – $325) to employees who meet specific organizational and employee health initiatives the Company Health Promotion Initiative continues to meet cost containment expectations in the area of health care use, sick time, injuries, while improving health habits and self-care practices.

During the first 4 years of the Company Health Promotion Initiative there was a 28 percent average reduction in health care utilization compared to nine other Providence hospitals that were used as a control group.

Du Pont saw that every dollar invested in their Company Health Promotion Initiative returned $1.42 over two years in lower rates of absenteeism costs at Du Pont Co. (Well workplace Gold in Delaware). Absences from illness unrelated to the job among 45,000 blue-collar staff members dropped 14 percent at 41 industrial sites where the Company Health Promotion Initiative was offered, compared with a 5.8 percent decline at 19 sites where it was not.

The Travelers Corporation claims a $3.40 return for every dollar invested Employee Wellness Programs, yielding total organization savings of $146 million in benefits costs. Sick leave was reduced 19 percent during the four-year study. In addition to improving the overall health of 36,000 employees and retirees by reducing poor health habits and increasing good ones, The Travelers realized cost savings by decreasing the number of unnecessary visits to a doctor and emergency rooms. In a similar but smaller study, members of a Travelers fitness center Company Health Promotion Initiative were absent from work significantly fewer days than non-members.

The Company Health Promotion Initiative at Reynolds Electrical & Engineering Company, located in Las Vegas, cost $76.24 per employee during the two years it has been in operation. Over 50% of the 1,600 employees took part in the Employee Wellness Program. Participants significantly lowered cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and weight and experienced 21 percent lower lifestyle-related claim costs than non-participant. Resulting savings: $127.89 per participant in the Company Health Promotion Initiative with a benefit to cost ratio of 1.68 to 1.

Superior Coffee and Foods, a Bensenville, Illinois-based subsidiary of Sara Lee Corporation, attributes impressive results to the success of the corporation’s broad-based Employee Wellness Program. Superior showed 22 percent fewer admissions to a hospital, 29 percent shorter hospital stays, and 42 percent lower expenses per admission when comparing costs for this division’s 1,200 employees with costs for other divisions. Long-term disability costs were down by 40 percent.

With medical costs per employee at $6,000, nearly twice the national average, Union Pacific Railroad introduced their Company Health Promotion Initiative to its 28,000 employees, mostly union and blue collar, in 19 Western and Southern states. Beginning with a modest medical self-care initiative at an annual cost of $50 per person, the Company Health Promotion Initiative achieved a net savings of $1.26 million. In addition, a voluntary Company Health Promotion Initiative to help employees decrease health risks projected a cost-benefit ratio of 1 to 1.57 after one year. Staff Members in a treatment group decreaseed their risk of high blood pressure (45 percent) and high cholesterol (34 percent); others moved out of the at-risk range for weight problems (30 percent); and 21 percent stopped using tobacco.

Average medical costs of high-risk Steelcase employees- those whose lifestyles include two to four health risks such as tobacco use, little exercise, overweight- are 75 percent higher than those of low-risk employees. But high-risk employees at this Grand Rapids, Michigan-furniture manufacturing corporation who improved their health habits through the company’s Company Health Promotion Initiative and became low risk cut their average medical claims in half thus lowering their medical insurance costs by an average of $618 per year. If all high-risk employees (20 percent of the total employee population) in one location changed their lifestyles to become low risk, the projected savings could total $20 million over three years.

Staff Members at Berk-Tec, a small manufacturing corporation in Lancaster County Pennsylvania, learned self-care techniques and decreaseed their corporation’s health care costs in one year. By using a self-care guide, the 938 employees and their family members made smart medical decisions and saved $21.67 per employee and dependent a nearly 18 percent reduction in costs. By combining reductions in doctor visits and emergency room use, the organization saved $39.06 per employee a 24.3 percent decrease in costs over the previous year.

A medical claims-based study of 72,000 people insured through 285 Wisconsin school districts found a lower demand for medical services among those with access to Employee Wellness Initiatives and self-care programs. Reductions in medical services results in savings for the Wisconsin Education Insurance Group of as much as $4.75 for each $1 spent, higher savings were found in the group receiving access to a 24-hour phone-based nurse advice line, a self-care reference book, and health education materials.

CIGNA’s Healthy Babies prenatal Company Health Promotion Initiative delivered an average savings of $5,000 per birth by providing expectant mothers with educational materials and rewarding early and regular prenatal care. And 80 percent of participants had normal births without complications compared with 50 percent for non-participant.

With savings estimated to be as high as $8 million, the California Public Staff Members’ Retirement System sent its 55,000 retirees a health risk appraisal followed, in some cases, with individualized reports and letters and self-care materials to encourage change and help reduce health risks among retirees and at the same time reduce the health care claim costs. In another study, Bank of America retirees in California who chose the full Company Health Promotion Initiative and demand reduction program showed a decrease in total direct and indirect costs of 11 percent compared with an increase of 6.3 percent for those who completed only a simple health questionnaire.

With lower health care claims, medical costs decreased 16 percent for workers in the City of Mesa (Arizona) who took part in the broad-based Employee Wellness Program. The city realized a return of $3.60 for every dollar invested in the wellnss program for the city workers.

To prevent back injuries among its workers, a county in California targeted white- and blue-collar staff members, offered classes and fitness training. As a result, there was a significant increase in employee morale, reduced worker’s comp claims, medical costs and sick days related to back injuries producing a net cost-benefit ratio of 1 to 1.79.

Employee Wellness Programs: Savings

Employee Wellness Initiatives provide Long-Term Savings

Employee Wellness Programs, according to an article in Crain’s Detroit Business, come in two varieties:  Employee Wellness Initiatives or Medical Insurance products that aim to reduce costs if healthy habits are followed.  Both options are a good choice, but only one will really provide long-term medical benefits for your workers and reduce costs over the years.

Employee Wellness Initiatives provide Assistance

Insurance-based products provide workers the opportunity, according to the article by Jay Green, to save money on their premiums if they follow certain steps, including performing an online health assessment, visiting their physician, and agree to adopt a healthy lifestyle.  These plans usually involve one coach call to the employee during the first 90 days.  We wonder if these brief wellness encounters will actually change a person’s lifestyle.

It is the overall change in a person’s lifestyle, as well as disease prevention that will lead to reduce health costs in the future.

Employee Wellness Initiatives provide convenient Health Risk Assessments / Health Risk Appraisals and screening tests for things like diabetes, cholesterol and blood pressure.  As the article states, these have initial start-up costs, but the savings accrue over time and workers are more likely to stay active in an onsite employee Wellness Program.

Employee Wellness Initiatives Get Results

Finally, the article states that businesses with an effective Company Health Promotion Initiative can expect to see “500 percent reduce absenteeism, 400 percent fewer disability claims, and 350 percent reduce health care costs.”  These are numbers that are very hard to argue with.

Employers are no longer able to trim extra savings out of their health insurance programs, and most companies have been cost shifting, asking employees to cover more of their health care costs. Health insurance costs continue to climb (10 percent or more per year) at 2-3 times the general inflation rate. With nowhere else to turn, employers are – more than ever – looking to get employees engaged in Employee Wellness Initiatives as a means of slowing health care costs and improving productivity.

For example, last year 53 percent of large employers offered Health Risk Assessments / Health Risk Appraisals for their staff, up from 35 percent just two years earlier, according to a Mercer survey. Change is being driven by cost, but Employee Wellness Initiatives a win-win solution for both employers and employees.

Here are other Company Health Promotion Initiative trends organizations are implementing:

More companies are integrating Employee Wellness Initiatives into their benefits plans. If they want the best plans or the lowest individual costs, they need to participate in the Company Health Promotion Initiative and meeting minimum objectives.

More companies are providing onsite weight loss programs as part of the Employee Wellness Program, especially after Duke University’s new research showing the high cost of overweight employees and raised cost for worker’s compensation for sedentary and overweight employees.

Employers are providing more Employee Wellness Initiatives designed to assist employees with chronic health conditions: health coaches, nurse advice lines, telephone counseling, and self-study guides

Employers are providing more internet-based Company Health Promotion Initiative interventions and health information resources

More companies are providing regular onsite employee health screenings including cholesterol, glucose, A1c, blood pressure, weigh-ins, and other checks as a component of their Employee Wellness Program. Some Employee Wellness Initiatives even include bone-density checks and skin cancer screenings.

Many companies are providing fitness programs, either in the community or onsite, as a component of their Employee Wellness Program.

Corporations are providing more incentives, prizes and rewards getting engaged in Company Health Promotion Initiative activities

Some companies are adding emphasis to maintaining health. It’s one thing to lose weight or stop tobacco; it’s another to maintain these changes. Helping employees stay engaged and maintain their health changes is important for long-term success.

Employers are putting more emphasis on keeping healthy people healthy rather than just working primarily with high-risk individuals. Research shows this approach results in a greater Company Health Promotion Initiative return on investment.

Wellness companies are providing great resources for organizations’ employees over the Internet – online wellness centers, monthly health and wellness newsetters, wellness challenges, internet-based points tracking systems, virtual fitness programs, internet-based wellness coaching or interventions, interactive health calculators, healthy recipes, even downloadable health tips for your iPod.

Employers who are becoming more proactive are making a big impact on their future health care expenses and productivity. Ohio State University announced that they expect to save $30 million dollars with their broad-based Company Health Promotion Initiative over the next 5 years!

Employee Wellness Initiatives and prevention are sound ideas whose time has come. Wellness is more fun and costs less than treating disease.

References: TIME in partnership with CNN, “Businesses Help Workers Lose Weight.” Website accessed July 2007.

Employee Wellness Initiatives start and end with individual health. Individuals, after all, are able to make decisions about maintaining and / or improving their health and wellbeing. Employee Employee Wellness Initiatives must therefore provide the tools and resources necessary to assist and motivate individuals to actively participate in the program.

Individual health is only one component of creating employee Employee Wellness Programs. Below you’ll find some things to assist you in your efforts to develop a healthy atmosphere for you and your coworkers.

Encouraging Your Employer to Begin an Company Health Promotion Initiative

This is the first step in creating a Employee Wellness Program. In recent times more and more employers are creating to see the value of promoting and supporting the health of their employees. Partnership for Prevention, a nonprofit organization, has released a sourcebook called “Healthy Workforce 2010″ (http://www.wellnessproposals.com/pdfs/tool_kits/healthy_workforce_2010.pdf). This sourcebook is an excellent resource containing information on:
•    Benefits of Employee Wellness Initiatives
•    Suggestions on where to start
•    Tools like surveys and assessment forms

These resources are for both employers and employees to lead the development and evaluate the effectiveness of their new Employee Wellness Program. Provide it to your employer as a place to start or read it yourself and present your ideas.

Participating in Employee Wellness Initiatives

Once you have an employee Company Health Promotion Initiative established, taking part fully in all aspects of the program is important. Many of us know that we need to more actively engage in Employee Wellness Initiatives to enhance our health, yet have difficulty finding and taking the time to do so. These simple steps can jumpstart your participation in an employee Employee Wellness Program:
•    Review the offerings that interest you and that you need for health  improvement.
•    Schedule time to go to the seminar or service.
•    Actively following through with recommendations from the program.
•    Make a decision now to enhance your health. You will feel better today and tomorrow and the next day for actively moving towards wellness.

Here is a list of potential Employee Wellness Initiatives that might be available to you at work:
•    ergonomic evaluations and ergonomic training classes
•    lactation rooms and classes
•    prenatal education
•    nap rooms for relaxation
•    stress management programs
•    fitness facilities
•    onsite corporate massage
•    nutrition education
•    onsite primary health care services
•    child care facility or resources and referral service
•    tobacco cessation programs parenting classes
•    Elder care resource and referral service
•    cholesterol, blood pressure and glucose screening programs
•    flu vaccination
•    weight management and / or weight loss programs
•    health care consumerism programs
•    work/life programs
•    health coaching
•    onsite mammography

More information to follow in my next posting about Employee Employee Wellness Initiatives

Studies suggest that for every $1 invested in Employee Wellness Programs, a corporation saves $3 to $5 in health and safety costs. Employers that invest in Employee Wellness Initiatives reap the financial rewards through savings on health care costs, disability pay, rates of absenteeism, turnover and safety problems.

workplaces have already proven to be a great place to promote wellness. After all, people spend more time at work than doing anything else. Eighty-two percent of the United States population is linked in some way to a worksite. Therefore, providing Employee Wellness Initiatives is a great way to reach a substantial number of people in your area.

Employee Wellness Initiatives in Small Organizations

Unlike large companies, small companies frequently lack the resources to provide Employee Wellness Initiatives to their employees. However, they may be the most in need of such services. Small businesses are the hardest hit by health insurance costs and have the highest rates of substance abuse. Employee well-being and physical or mental illness can also be more disruptive in a small business setting. Employee Wellness Initiatives in small companies also makes sense because small firms employ the majority of working citizens.

Regardless of the size of a business, Employee Wellness Initiatives can pay. Statistically, even if there are only 100 people in a corporation:

• 60 sit all day to do their work
• 50 don’t wear their safety belts regularly
• 50 feel they’re under moderate stress
• 35 are overweight by 20 percent or more
• 30 smoke
• 27 have cardiovascular disease
• 25 or more have high cholesterol (over 200 mg/dl)
• 10 are heavy drinkers
• 10 have high blood pressure
• 5 have diagnosed diabetes and another 5 have undiagnosed diabetes
• 7 use marijuana
• 1 uses cocaine

Bottom Line Company Health Promotion Initiative Benefits

At least one quarter of the health care costs incurred by working adults can be attributed to modifiable health risks (e.g., diet, exercise, tobacco use, etc.) Fortunately, there is a way to hold back the trend. Growing research links an individual’s lifestyle behaviors to their health risk.

The good news is Employee Wellness Initiatives can:

• Reduce health care costs
• Reduce workers’ compensation claims
• Reduce employee rates of absenteeism
• Improve worker productivity
• Improve employee morale

The bottom line is that Employee Wellness Initiatives can benefit any size business — small or large.

There are a number of reasons why a Company Health Promotion Initiative is beneficial.

1. Improved Morale – When the organizational culture begins to change as a result the Employee Wellness Program, you and your employees may actually begin to see and feel a new level of energy within the organization.  Ultimately, one of the most ambitious objectives of any broad-based Company Health Promotion Initiative is to attempt to influence the attitudes and actions of the organization’s most valuable resource — its employees.

2. Reduced Turnover – As we all know, employee replacement costs can be quite high for any kind of business.  The effort and expense associated with running employment ads, reading applications, checking references, interviewing qualified candidates, hiring and training a new employee can be a serious burden on any business.  In light of the challenges that high employee turnover pose, many companies are looking to Employee Wellness Initiatives as an additional perk that can help to prevent employees from jumping ship.

3. Raised Recruitment Potential – In the midst of a very tight labor market, companies are forced to pull out the stops in order to recruit new talent.  In some instances, Employee Wellness Initiatives can prove to be a very valuable tool in sealing the deal.

4. Reduced Absenteeism – When an employee misses work in a business setting, the entire organization is forced to absorb his/her responsibilities.  Even in the event of the occasional absence caused by things like colds and the flu, work can back-up and tensions can build.

Even worse is a long-term absence caused by a major health event that requires hospitalization and/or rehabilitation.  By preventing certain types of illness caused by poor lifestyle habits, Employee Wellness Initiatives can play an important role in reducing rates of absenteeism.

5. Health Care Cost Containment – Most companies don’t create a Company Health Promotion Initiative with cost containment in mind.  However, cost containment for certain health problems should be considered a viable goal by many companies.

6. Improved Employee Health Status – One of the greatest advantages of a well-designed Company Health Promotion Initiative is the promise of improved health.  There is a growing body of evidence that suggests well-designed Employee Wellness Initiatives can successfully impact such behaviors as tobacco use, high-risk alcohol use, seatbelt use and more.

It is important to evaluate the effectiveness of all Employee Wellness Programs. There are several very simple ways to evaluate Employee Wellness Programs:

How many attended the corporate health and Employee Wellness Program, and was there participation or a visible level of interest?

Use a short and simple pen and paper assessment that people fill out at the end of the Company Health Promotion Initiative /seminar. Statements that are rated on a scale from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree) will give valuable information. Ask about:
•    The value of the Employee Wellness Initiatives to the individual
•    The style of the presenter
•    The presenter’s knowledge of the topic
•    The level of knowledge gained by the employee
•    Other areas that would be of interest for future Employee Wellness Initiatives

Examples of Questions about Employee Wellness Initiatives
•    This program provided me with information and/or skills I will use.
•    The presenter was knowledgeable about the subject matter.
•    There was adequate time for questions.
•    The methods used to present the information were effective.

Open-ended questions about Employee Wellness Initiatives may include:
•    The best component of this Company Health Promotion Initiative was…
•    The component that needed improvement was….
•    I would attend another Company Health Promotion Initiative by this speaker…
•    Topics I would like to see included in other seminars or Wellness Programs…

This would be a process assessment that examines how well the Employee Wellness Initiatives were implemented. It is also important to look at health outcomes and cost outcomes of Employee Wellness Programs.

More in-depth information about the cost-effectiveness of Employee Wellness Initiatives can be found by analyzing data before and after Employee Wellness Initiatives concerning health care claims, workers’ comp claims, sick time, productivity levels, etc. Health outcomes for Employee Wellness Initiatives can be measured by looking at health claims and sick time.

It is also important to look at the impact of Employee Wellness Initiatives on family members. For example, tobacco by pregnant mothers may lead to the birth of a severely impaired child. This could cost an employer or health plan hundreds of thousands of dollars, an expense that could have been avoided with well-designed Employee Wellness Programs.

You can also compare the cost per employee of running the Employee Wellness Initiatives to the savings per employee. One assessment of Employee Wellness Initiatives involving 20,000 to 25,000 employees at New York City-based Citibank showed a return of $6.70 for every dollar the corporation invested in Employee Wellness Programs. The findings were based on a study of medical costs and rates of absenteeism.1

An ongoing assessment of your Employee Wellness Initiatives should be performed annually and additional periodic evaluations of Employee Wellness Initiatives should be conducted on an ad hoc basis. An ad hoc assessment of your Employee Wellness Initiatives might be initiated by a variety of triggers. For example, at the end of flu season, a corporation might want to evaluate its flu shot program.

Employee retention is a challenge. Employee Wellness Initiatives can help. providing perks such as incentives to exercise, healthy food, stress management and weight loss programs at work is a way to maintain your employees satisfied.

Attracting new workers are also a challenge, and anything you can do to “stand out” from other employees is to your advantage. Remember, salary isn’t everything. Often, the possibility of flex hours or a discount at the local gym may be the deciding factor for a future employee. Once again, Employee Wellness Initiatives to the rescue!

How Are Employee Wellness Initiatives Administered?

Whether running small Employee Wellness Initiatives in-house or using outside corporate wellness companies to oversee the whole thing, program promotion is vital. You may have a great speaker come in to talk about a very “hot topic,” but if no one knew about it, it was a waste of the speaker’s time and your money.

Corporate Company Health Promotion Initiative setup and promotion go hand and hand. Depending on the size of your corporation, it may be handled by one person or an entire Employee Wellness team. You may even have an employee who is interested in physical fitness and would love to organize some educational wellness presentations and activities.

Other employees may have areas of interest and would be willing to set up some educational programs. Especially for smaller employers, once you have chosen your events and activities, it is best to set up a calendar with a schedule of events. Then publish the entire calendar as well as announcing each individual event as it comes up.

Access to Employee Wellness Initiatives

To make access easy, offer a wide range of Employee Wellness Initiatives and activities that can fit into everyone’s schedule. For example, some employees may find it difficult to get to a seminar at work or make a commitment for 8 weeks of the Weight Watchers at Work program. However, they will take advantage of a reduced rate at the gym and will borrow tapes from the health and wellness library.

If you have shifts, don’t forget to schedule events for the after 5:00 group. Nothing will undermine Employee Wellness Initiatives more quickly than promoting great activities that are only convenient for first shift employees.