Workplace Wellness Programs: Right Or Wrong?

Ryan Storc
AEDECON 3160
10/1/15

Writing Exercise #1

For this first writing exercise, I decided to do research about wellness programs in the workplace. While doing some searching on the online library, I found an article which talks about the positives and negatives of workplace wellness programs. Titled Workplace Wellness Programs: Right or Wrong?, the article points out exactly that. It brings to light the good wellness programs have on both employees and employers and also the bad wellness programs have on each.

In this article, it starts by pointing out all the good that wellness programs have on the workplace. Most employers now are asking their employees to participate in wellness programs. For the employee, it has all sorts of

benefits. Whether it is eating healthier, losing weight, finding a healthier lifestyle, or becoming more physically active, it can really make a positive impact on the employee. For the employer, it could help to create a healthier workforce, a type of teambuilding for participating employees, and/or increase employee morale. It also can help the employer by possibly reducing absenteeism and less sick day which create higher productivity levels and it also could reduce the cost to insure their employees over time.

While most employees are all for workforce wellness programs, there are also employees who are against it. American employers have embraced the workplace wellness programs, going from 75 percent of employers embracing it to 93 percent (Bottles, 34). The one major thing employers are looking to do is to lower their costs. Safeway is one company that has totally embraced a workplace wellness program. The article points out that Safeway has had their wellness program in place since 2005 and it has helped to keep their healthcare costs steady for four years (Bottles, 34). With the cost of healthcare constantly increasing, this is a huge benefit for such a large company. Another positive comes from the community care of North Carolina, where a Medicaid program that firms have claimed has saved the state over $1 billion over three to four years (Bottles, 34). Since they have stated all the positives, then the negatives come in. For example, CVS is being sued by an employee because she refuses to pay $600 more for health insurance because she refuses to be screened,

whereas employees who get screened do not have to pay that (Bottles, 36). The same thing is also happening at Pennsylvania State University where employees who refused to participate in an online health assessment had to pay an extra $100 for benefits (Bottles, 36). The reason as to why these employees refused to participate is because they feel it is an invasion of their privacy and it’s hard for an employer to tell their employee how they should live their life. This topic definitely shows that there are two sides to every story. Workplace wellness programs seem to be a great thing not only for employees and employers, but there will also be those who are opposed to it for whatever reason they feel.

The main reason I decided to read this article and write about is because workplace wellness programs have always been an interesting topic to me because I can see both sides of it.

I personally feel that it is a positive for everyone because most everyone wants to live a healthier life and having an employer who is willing and wanting you to live a healthier life and has a program in place to do so is only a good thing, not a bad thing. But after reading this article, I do see how other people could be against it. Invasion into someone’s private life is something nobody wants to do, and this could do just that. Some people like to have their own eating habits and workout lifestyles, and making and employee pay extra money for healthcare benefits because they do not want to participate in the program seems wrong to me. Employers shouldn’t make their employees feel left out or mistreated because they do not want to

participate.

There were a lot of things to learn from this article. One thing I learned is that wellness programs have had a huge jump in popularity in companies. As the article stated, it has increased from 75 percent of companies who have embraced a program to 93 percent (Bottles, 34). Another thing I have learned is that employers are really looking at the return on investment when it comes to these programs. With this, they are looking at less absenteeism, less sick days and fewer medical visits which makes insuring their employees cost less. One other thing I learned is that this topic is a sensitive one, and if it is not handled properly, it could cause a lot of problems for an employer. There will always be those who will be for it, and those who will be against it.

One thing that surprised me is that wellness programs are one of the fastest growing industries. According to the article, “workplace wellness programs are the fastest growing area in employee benefits, and a $6 billion industry is a gold mine for benefit consultants and brokers (Bottles, 34). With the kind of money that is going into these programs, it could not only benefit the employees and employers for the reasons mentioned above, but it also creates business for companies that provide these wellness programs. So the employees are getting healthier and living healthier, employers are reducing their healthcare costs and reduce employee turnover, and the wellness program providers are making money from the companies hiring them to provide their services.

This article really points out how this impacts business operations. With companies paying for wellness programs, that’s and extra expense to pay. The businesses are banking on that these programs will improve employee health which could reduce absenteeism and sick days, better employee turnover, and increased productivity. With healthier employees, insuring them should costs less and with them increasing productivity, it should help create more profit.

This article was very informative about the good and the bad of workplace wellness programs. After reading this, it has opened my eyes to the positives and negatives and it has also showed me how it impacts how their operations run.

Works Cited

Bottles, Kent. "Workplace Wellness Programs Right or Wrong?." Physician Leadership Journal 2.3 (2015): 34-37. Business Source Complete. Web. 1 Oct. 2015.