Delaware Employment Law Blog

Previously I posted about my quest for the perfect economic office chair.  And, as everyone knows, nothing's more important than the perfect accessory.  When I do manage to find my dream chair, I now know the perfect accessory for it--the Herman Miller Laptop Stand. The Scooter Laptop Stand  provides comfortable and ergonomically correct keyboard and mouse support. The Scooter adjusts in height from 22" to 30" and has a tilt range of 20°. It can be purchased at Amazon for $379 and comes in Solid Cherry, Ash, and Ebony finishes.  

Walking while you work was the topic of an earlier post. This post stays within the same theme--how to be healthy at work--but with a different perspective--mine.  I have some thoughts of my own on this topic. 

For one, I would cherish the opportunity to move more through the day without sacrificing working time.  It's not the walking part, really, as much as it's the idea of not sitting that I find attractive.  Basically, anything that involves me not sitting would be of value.  Alternatively, sitting comfortably and without permanently wrecking my posture would be a heck of an idea.

Somehow, I've never gotten around to buying one and my back really pays the price for my indecisiveness.  What's stopping me?  There's just too many from which I could choose!  But that's not to say that I haven't given it a lot of thought.  Here's the rundown on my years of searching.

There's the classic Herman Miller Aeron chair.  Everyone knows that the Aeron is pretty hard to beat when it comes to function and design.  Being a lover of modern furniture, I can admire the Aeron even for the story of its creation--and if you haven't yet read the story, it's a great story of perseverance and dedication, of leadership and teamwork.  Good stuff.  The Executive Aeron can be purchased for approximately $1,300. 

Herman Miller also offers the Mirra ($829) and Celle ($629) chairs as less pricey Aeron alternatives. Both chairs come in a variety of colors, which is an advantage over the Aeron.  Color is important. 

I have to pass on the Aeron because, honestly, it's just not "pretty" enough for me.  Yes, mock me if you will, but at least I'm honest.  I appreciate the aesthetic but I need more glamour than the black mesh has to offer. 

The Freedom chair by Humanscale is next in the rotation.  The Freedom chair (with headrest, of course), also has plenty of design awards on its resume and is known as one of the best in the ergonomic category.  But, to its credit, it comes in a variety of colors and textures, including leather, which happens to be my preference.  At around $1,000, the chair is priced competitively.  The Liberty chair, priced for under $800, is Humanscale's task chair alternative. 

Next up is Steelcase--the maker of the Walkstation treadmill-desk combo that prompted this post.  Steelcase has plenty to offer in the way of ergonomic seating, the two most popular choices being the Leap and Think chairs.   Both are offered in various colors and both have a contemporary look, with the Think chair's sleek, linear design being my preference between the two.

I've been known to be open to new things so it's not surprising that I've given a lot of thought to the out-of-the-ordinary seating options.  For instance, the HAG Capisco saddle chair (in red, below, $690 - $1,200) dares to be different.  Even assuming that it's as comfortable as could be and the look was where I wanted to go, the whole "saddle" concept just doesn't work for me.  The idea is that you can sit in the chair backwards (why, I haven't the foggiest).  Sorry, I wear too many skirts to make this a realistic possibility.  I'll pass, although I do love the height-adjustable feature. In my ideal office, I would have a height-adjustable desk, making this feature quite important.  

The same principles go for the "stool" option but, in the interest of fairness, I'll list them anyway.   The Swopper Stool by Via (left, $600) is designed to force its user to keep their balance by engaging their abdomen muscles instead of letting us lazy office workers slump over in our traditionally terrible posture.   The HAG Balans Kneeling Chair (right) is even less likely to ever see the four walls of my office.  I've witnessed these in use and, unless you work at a health club or in another industry where you are expected to wear clothes designed for comfort, this option is just impractical.  My devotion to improved posture is not this strong.   

Now let's get to the serious contenders.  If and when I get around to breaking open the office-chair-piggy-bank, there are just two that make me stand up and cheer. 

First is the Steelcase Leap Worklounge Chair in Leather ($2,700-$3,400 depending on options).

It's beautiful.  And that's exactly why I like it.  It comes in white leather, which is my favorite upholstery option (practicality be damned).  There is also an optional ottoman but who has time to put their feet up?  We're working too hard to afford the chair!

And then there's the ultimate in luxury office seating, the Silver chair by Interstuhl.  Interstuhl is a German company and brings German precision to its line of couture office furniture.  I could say more but the pictures speak for themselves. 

Beauty is not cheap.  The base model in black will cost you around $4,500.  But why stop there?  If you're going to do luxurious, go all the way.  And Interstuhl has just the chair for satisfying the maximum luxury quotient.  

For a mere $65,500, you can be one of the lucky owners of the world's most expensive office chair.   You'll get not just the chair but the matching ottoman, as well, both of which are plated in 24-karat gold.

The chair has even had a few roles on the silver screen.  It was used as Al Pacino's chair in the movie Ocean's 13.  And, more recently, made a cameo in the latest Bond film, Quantum of Solace.

What are your resolutions for 2009? I predicted the top 5 workplace resolutions based on the popularity of various topics on the blog. One of the most popular topics in 2008 was Corporate Wellness.  There's no time like the present so why wait to get fit?  If you're ready to jump on the healthy-employee bandwagon, here's an interesting way to get started: the treadmill desk.  We've written before about this fascinating workplace wellness concept. 

The premise is this:  Healthy employees are productive employees.  To be healthy, employees need to move.  Moving employees aren't being productive.  It's a vicious circle. 

Until now, that is.

Steelcase is trying to change that with its Walkstation treadmill desk.  The Walkstation is, in a basic sense, a treadmill and an adjustable desk.  Using this nifty tool, employees can walk while they type, talk on the phone, or review documents.  Employees aren't asked to jog while working, though.  The treadmill runs at speeds of 0.3 - 2 mph. 

Health doesn't come cheap, though.  A single Walkstation will set you back about $5,000.  According to Steelcase, employers are buying single units to be shared among several employees, who can reserve the unit for small periods during the workday.

I have some thoughts of my own on this topic.  For one, I would cherish the opportunity to move more through the day without sacrificing working time.  It's not the walking part, really, as much as it's the idea of not sitting that I find attractive.  Basically, anything that involves me not sitting would be of value. 

I'm also in touch with the fact that I am just not that coordinated.  The thought of me trying to walk on a treadmill in 4" heels while typing an e-mail to opposing counsel is funny to me, even funnier to anyone who's seen me try to walk and chew gum at the same time.  I think it's a disaster waiting to happen.  So what would be my preferred alternative?   Stay tuned to find out.

Bad bosses can kill you.  Even more so than factors such as whether the employee smokes, exercises, or has weight problems. The data comes from a four-year-long study in Switzerland and was published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

Workers who were subject to inconsiderate and uncommunicative bosses were about 60% more likely to suffer a heart attack or other life-threatening cardiac condition.  Employees who had strong leaders as bosses, on the other hand, were roughly 40% less likely to suffer heart emergencies. 

Got boss troubles?  Check out these posts:

How Crazy Is Your Boss? No, really, how crazy?

15 Things that Jerks at Work Usually Do

Inside the Mind of a Super Jerk

5 Costs of Coworker Bullying

And In This Corner. . . Susan From Accounting. Office Rage in the Ring

Top 5 Lessons to Be Learned from the Jerk at Work

Workplace bullying

You Know You’re a Bad Manager When. . . Mutiny at the Post Office

Bosses Aren't the Only Workplace Toxins: What to do with toxic employees?

Employee Handbook Policy #502: Respectful Workplace

Everything You Needed to Know About Your Toxic Boss

Employers want healthy employees. Employee wellness programs are as hot as ever.  Employees who smoke, on the other hand, aren't very popular.  Employers point to well-known statistics to support a variety of smoke-free policies.  Many companies have implemented bans on hiring smokers.  Others have taken to charging a "smokers' premium" on health insurance.  Smokers' premiums are a surcharge added to the health-care premiums of smokers, typically between $15 and $30 extra per month. 

The idea of "punishing" employees for what they do in their non-working time does not sit well for some.  Others raise questions about enforcement--how will the employer know if the employee claims not to smoke but does so "socially" or even secretly.  Should closet smokers be able to avoid the smokers' premiums by hiding what they do outside of the office?  

Our future President may be sympathetic to this secret society of smokers.  He is, after all, a card-carrying member.  Obama has admitted to being a former smoker but, in an interview with Tom Brokaw on political talk show, Meet the Press, the President-Elect admitted that he's "fallen off the wagon" on more than one occasion and did not deny that he'd avoided Barbara Walter's questions about whether he'd kicked the habit for good. 

In light of his penchant for lighting up, will the country's next President really support the current employee wellness programs sweeping the nation? 

Employee wellness programs are great.  Employers like the cost reductions in insurance and related health-care costs.  Employees like to be able to shoot hoops at lunch or take a yoga class on-site after work.  But what about wellness while you work?  The idea of the treadmill-desk is one I've posted about before.   (See These Pumps Were Made for Walkin').  "Walkstations," as they're known, have been touted as the missing link between a truly obtainable harmony between wellness and the daily corporate grind.

Now, the makers of Trekdesk claim that the benefits of walking while you work are even more substantial.  According to a promotion for the company, you can walk your way to thinness by losing one to two pounds per week, or more, without dieting.  It can help you sleep through the night, help correct back problems, improve your mood, and even reverse and delay aging.  And, according to the manufacturer, “Walking has been shown to prevent colon, prostate and breast cancer along with a multitude of other diseases."  Hence, employees who walk will be helping to prevent cancer.  Pretty lofty claims.

In the end, I am more than a little skeptical of the validity of these expectations.  But, I'm not skeptical about the potential impact on productivity and general health that can result from regular exercise.  Not that I'm committing to the purchase of a TrekDesk quite yet--after all, there are no prices listed on the manufacturer's website.  But I'm willing to keep an open mind. when it comes to wellness.

Delaware's ING DIRECT's employee wellness strategy and approach has been discussed in earlier posts.  The background of the wellness program was the subject of Part I of this post.  In Part II, we reviewed the principals underlying the corporate health and wellness program that shape the company's various health-centric initiatives.  In this final part, we'll look at the Returns on Investment ING DIRECT has seen since first implementing its wellness program.

High-Energy Initiatives at The Energy Zone

At the core of the ING DIRECT wellness program is The Energy Zone. The Energy Zone, is the company’s on-site exercise facility, which opened in March 2005. The facility is expansive, sprawling across 10,000 square feet of the company’s Delaware location. The Energy Zone is fully equipped with all of the cardiovascular and strength-training equipment found in a membership-based health club, including full shower and locker room amenities. These conveniences represent substantial time savings for associates. In turn, employees, who pay just $10 per month in dues, are more motivated to participate, in part, because of the ease of access to the exercise infrastructure.

And, once associates make their way to the fitness center, they can expect to have some company. The Energy Zone is staffed with a team of professionals dedicated to the promotion of health and wellness. The team offers members guidance on general fitness principles and the value of making healthy lifestyle choices. Nutrition counseling is available as an important auxiliary benefit to ensure associates are able to maximize their efforts in the gym. The Energy Zone staff is an enthusiastic group, implementing a number of interactive and motivational programs to get associates excited about wellness and to keep that enthusiasm in high gear on a long-term basis.

So how well has the Energy Zone worked? The gym sees, on average, approximately 150 employee-members per day. This number represents an increase in attendance by more than 70% since 2006. There is little seasonal fluctuation in attendance numbers. The Energy Zone’s attendance rate has virtually no decline in November and December—a time when the busy holiday season is historically linked to low attendance.

The Doctor Is In

What separates the ING DIRECT model from even most its highly regarded competitors is its on-site medical care. Employer-sponsored health clinics have experienced increased popularity over the last several years. And, as is not uncommon with this front-running company, ING DIRECT was one of the first large organizations to recognize the concept’s many values.

Until recently, the number of employers that provide on-site health clinics has been tiny. A recent study, though, found that 32% of all employers with more than 1,000 workers either have an on-site medical center or plan to build one by 2009. Again, ING DIRECT is far ahead of its peers.

The medical facility offered at ING DIRECT is available for associates on an appointment and walk-in basis. The facility is staffed by a board-certified family physician, and a registered nurse, both of whom are accessible to associates via phone and e-mail. The availability of on-site treatment for routine, as well as urgent issues, resulted in a direct and immediate savings of more than 1,300 working hours in 2006 alone.

Results and Returns

For many businesses considering a health and wellness offering, the lingering question remains, “Will it work?” Contributing to this question are a number of other questions such as, “How do we define success?” and “What will be the net gain?” All of these inquiries are legitimate and arise, and each arises in the context of keeping in mind the best interests of the business.

ING DIRECT has addressed the questions in a number of ways. First, ING DIRECT set clearly defined long-term objectives, such as reducing the cost of health care to its associates and to the productivity of the organization as a whole. With those objectives in mind, it was able to create a set of short-term goals, such as decreasing the number of tobacco users and increasing the amount of cardiovascular activity associates participate in on a regular basis. And, with these targets in mind, it set to work to get results.

And results have happened—far beyond the optimistic goals set by the program’s director, Don Baag, M.D. For example, one of Baag’s early initiatives was a campaign to decrease the percent of ING DIRECT employees who smoke by 5%. By all accounts, this is an admirable goal, and even more so in light of the fact that participation was entirely voluntary—no carrot or sticks required.

To measure the company’s effectiveness, a health survey was distributed to employees, who were selected at random at the beginning and end of the campaign. The results were remarkable. In a mere five months, the percent of employees who smoked decreased by 24%. Regardless of how “results” are defined, there can be no doubt that such a remarkable accomplishment is, by definition, a success.

The results of the wellness program also can be evaluated by referencing enrollment statistics. If associates are enthusiastic enough to enroll in continued short-term programs, they’re more likely to sustain a long-term lifestyle change. In this category, as well, the ING DIRECT wellness program sets the standard high. For example, in the first year it was offered, nearly 20% of employees participated in the company’s flu-shot program. Additionally, for employees who are not members of the on-site fitness center because of residency and traveling issues, ING DIRECT offers up to $40 per month in gym-fee reimbursement. Nearly 200 employees are enrolled in this program, which requires participants to provide proof of attendance at least eight times a month.

The Bloodborne Pathogens Standard (BPS), was issued by OSHA as a measure to protect employees who are at risk for exposure to viruses caused by bloodborne pathogens, such as HIV and Hepatitis.  For more background on what exactly the BPS requires employers to do, see our prior post on the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard.

In a recent decision by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal appellate court with jurisdiction over Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, the procedures requirements of BPS were put under the spotlight—with interesting results.

In Secretary of Labor v. Beverly Healthcare-Hillview, the Third Circuit was asked to interpret what it means to provide the necessary testing “at no cost to the employee.” In that case, two employees suffered needlestick injuries while at work. They sought treatment after the shift at the hospital’s designated medical facility. They subsequently returned to the facility for periodic treatment as prescribed. All of the treatment occurred during their non-working time. Beverly paid the cost of the treatment but did not compensate the employees for the non-working time they spent in treatment.

Beverly was cited by OSHA for failing to provide the testing and treatment “at no cost to the employee.” The citation was appealed to an administrative judge and, subsequently, to the Third Circuit. The appellate court held that the language of the applicable BPS provision relating to “at no cost” was ambiguous, which gave the Secretary of Labor the authority to interpret the provision. OSHA interpreted the language to include compensation for travel time and non-working time when the employees sought follow-up care. In short, the court’s decision means that employers must compensate employees for time spent and costs expended while seeking post-incident evaluation and treatment.

The background of the ING DIRECT model for its employee wellness strategy and approach was the subject of Part I of this post.  In this part, we'll review the principals underlying the program that shape the company's various health-centric initiatives.

Philosophical Underpinnings

Baag reports that, although it can be tempting to follow the current wellness trends as many companies have, the ING DIRECT culture demands something different. And something better. The goal is to effectuate deep-rooted and sustainable behavioral change without intruding on personal privacy and without monetary incentives, at least overtly. This means that wellness will have to appeal to employees with minimal emphasis of the traditional ‘carrot and stick’ model, if at all.

The principal underlying ING DIRECT’s wellness program is, at the same time, both obvious and complex. The philosophy that motivates the course of the wellness program can be described as, “The cost of providing health care to the workforce is higher than ever but the price of an unhealthy workforce is even higher.”

This philosophy reveals the company’s established recognition that health-care absorbs a substantial portion of the resources that can be allocated to employees as benefits. This is not so unusual. What differentiates the ING DIRECT methodology, though, is an equally well-established recognition of the very real costs associated with employees who are not able to perform at their best level. In other words, the company employs an organizational appreciation for the power of full engagement. ING DIRECT’s goal, then, is to promote well-being among employees while still preserving the integrity of its low-cost business model.

Caution: Obstacles Ahead

And, as formidable as that challenge may seem just by itself, there is another ever-present obstacle--the modern health-care system. Baag is often left to pick up the pieces as ING DIRECT employees make their way through a system that inefficient, slow, and without sufficient value placed on the needs of the individual patients. The ING DIRECT wellness program plays a double role as its members are frequently called on to be advocates for employees--intervening on their behalf when needed.

In developing ING DIRECT’s program, Baag first looked at the business costs of the health-care crisis. He then turned to the root causes of that crisis to determine what factors had the greatest impact on the cost of health care. The wellness program directly targets those root causes.

It is no secret that the cost of employer-sponsored health plans has skyrocketed. In turn, many employers have had to pass some of this cost along to employees in the form of higher premiums, increased copays, and deductibles. But the cost of health care itself is not the only cost that businesses must absorb.

Productivity is directly affected by the health of the organization’s employees. Absenteeism is an obvious drain on resources. Equally destructive is the cost of “presenteeism,” which occurs when employees attend work but are less productive due to illness or mental duress. In other words, they’re showing up but not much more. According to some accounts, presenteeism accounts for 20-60% of the total economic health cost incurred by employers. And one study found that the loss of productivity due to illness and sub-par performance in 2003 was approximately $260 billion.

The culmination of this data was a health-care paradox. On the one hand, employers cannot afford to have anything less than a healthy workforce while, on the other hand, the current state of modern health care is unaffordable. The next step in Baag’s analysis was to identify the main factors that had caused the cost of health care to become so unattainable.

One of the most significant factors is the cost of chronic medical conditions. They account for nearly half of the total health care expenditures in the U.S. The preventable conditions that ING DIRECT chose to target included heart disease and stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure, work-related stress, obesity, and conditions caused by smoking.

In the next post, we will look in detail at the various measures ING DIRECT has implemented to help achieve its goal of workplace wellness. We will also evaluate the benefits ING DIRECT has been able to realize through its wellness program and whether its initiatives can be replicated by other employers.  In the meantime, you can have a look around some of the other wellness-related posts at the Delaware Employment Law Blog.

Employee health and wellness is spreading beyond corporate giants. Small businesses are joining together to share ideas and resources as part of a corporate-health strategy.  Health and wellness programs are attractive (or should be) to small employers for a variety of reasons. 

For one, smaller business are more vulnerable to attendance problems. It's a matter of statistics--when staffing is lean, an out-of-work employee can cause a chain reaction of problems that affect the entire organization.  Consequently, these businesses benefit from having a workforce that is less afflicted by health problems.

From a different perspective, wellness plans can be seen not only as a preventative step that benefits employers but also as an additional benefit to employees.  In tough economic times, employers are less likely to offer big bonuses or large annual increases.  Yet, employees value wellness programs, leading to increased employee retention and improved recruitment efforts.

Although small-businesses may be fairly new to the employee-wellness scene, the idea is not a new one.  For additional reading on employee-wellness programs, see these earlier posts:

1. State Employees Will Go From Fat to Fit--Or Else

2. Health vs. Privacy: Employers Continue to Juggle Both

3. What Does It Take to Be "Best Place to Work"?

4. Three Days of the Bar Exam and the Next Great Wellness Benefit

5. These Pumps Were Made for Walkin'

6. Are Employers Getting Pushy About Weight Loss?

7. Employers Should Know that Cancer Screening Saves Lives . . . And Money

8. More Employers Giving the Gift of Wellness--via gift cards

9. Employee Blogs as Part of Corporate Wellness Programs?

10. Employees, Prepare to Get Healthy, Like It Or Not!

11. DelaWELL, Delaware’s Health-Management Program, Wins NASPE Award

12. DOL Offers Compliance Checklist for Wellness Programs

13. Are Today's Wellness Programs Running Out of Steam?

14. A Role Model for Wellness Programs: ING Direct

OSHA's Bloodborne Pathogens Standard is common to many of you.  Workers in a variety of different occupations are at risk of exposure to bloodborne pathogens, which also includes exposure to Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.  Employees in healthcare, housekeeping, health clubs and gyms, dentistry, funeral homes, law enforcement, and first-aid and emergency responders are some of the most commonly affected. 

OSHA issued the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard ("BPS"), in 1991.  BPS was intended to protect workers from the risk of exposure to bloodborne Pathogens and, in turn, to the associated viruses.  In 2001, in response to the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act, OSHA revised the BPS. The revised standard addressed the need to select safer needle devices and the importance of involving employees in making those selections.  The updated standard also imposes recordkeeping requirements for injuries relating to contaminated sharps.

Pursuant to BPS, employers must identify the job duties or tasks and the job classifications where occupational exposure to blood occurs.  The list must be put into writing and it must not take into consideration whether the employee would likely be wearing personal protective clothing and equipment.  Then, armed with that information, employers must create and implement standards and procedures for evaluating the risk involved in the identified circumstances.  The plan must be accessible to employees and available to OSHA.  The written plan must be revaluated annually, or earlier if conditions require.

In addition to the recordkeeping and procedures-based requirements, BPS also imposes requirements relating to the rights of employees.  Employees must be given training in accordance with BPS requirements.  They are also entitled to receive certain notices, and access to the policies that are being implemented and reviewed.  All employees who risk exposure to hepatitis B must be offered vaccination. 

Finally, BPS also mandates certain procedures in the event of an exposure incident.  Employees must be provided with a post-exposure evaluation and follow-up must be provided to all employees who have had an exposure incident. The follow-up testing must be provided at no cost to the employee. 

Delaware is one of several states that have implemented wellness and prevention programs.  State employee wellness programs are often launched as pilots for broader health initiatives and as examples of best practices that it is hoped the private sector will follow. 

DelaWELL, Delaware’s pilot wellness program, was designed to set an example for private employers to follow, as well as to demonstrate the possible ROI.  Delaware employer, ING DIRECT, is unusual in that it adopted its own wellness program shortly after Delaware first began its wellness program. ING DIRECT saw so much intrinsic value in the wellness philosophy that it began to implement a full-fledged wellness campaign long before the state program could return any substantial ROI data.

In this multi-part post, we’ll look at the ING DIRECT program as a model for other businesses who are considering making the wellness investment.  In this post, we will focus on guiding principles that have directed the program’s priorities and initiatives, the real-world data that was used in assessing the potential value of the program, and goals the program is hoped will obtain.

Next, we’ll look to the various facets of the wellness program as it has come to be developed, an assessment of those initiatives, and the direction the program can be expected to take over the next several years. Undoubtedly, ING DIRECT has taken its own distinct path in implementing its deeply rooted wellness philosophy. As a frontrunner in the area of workplace wellness, other state employers can gain valuable insight from the ING DIRECT example.

ING DIRECT’s Arrival in America

ING DIRECT was born in Canada in 1997, a subsidiary of Dutch giant, ING Group. In 2000, several executives came to the U.S. to replicate the Internet bank’s Canadian success. By late 2003, ING DIRECT USA had acquired 1.5 million customers and had grown to employee more than 800 people. Realizing the potential implications of such sudden growth, CEO Arkadi Kuhlmann directed the company’s efforts towards creating a culture that valued work-life balance.

Kuhlmann’s strategy was influenced by The Power of Full Engagement, by Jim Loehr, Ed.D. In his best-selling book, Loehr advocates that individuals must manage their energy--not their time--in order to reach their full potential. Only by focusing on sustained performance can individuals maximize their health, happiness, and work-life balance. For Kuhlmann, the connection between a healthy workforce and a productive workforce was an easy one to make and he set off to create a working environment that would support this connection.

The Doctor Is In

In 2004, Kuhlmann approached Don Baag, M.D., with his ideas. Kuhlmann described his vision--to have a doctor-in-residence on the ING DIRECT campus--not just to tend to the daily healthcare needs of employees, but to address the overall health of the corporate culture. And just how was Baag to implement such an esoteric strategy? With a wellness program.

Intrigued by the opportunity to directly impact an entire workforce on a permanent level, Baag agreed. Kuhlmann offered no instruction or specific strategy--just to create a department that’s entire focus would be on the well-being of employees in whatever format Baag saw fit. Baag had never before developed a corporate wellness program. In fact, he’d never worked in a company that had one. But the absence of prior experience is not out of place in the ING DIRECT culture, which has found great success by innovating new experiences instead of copying the experiences of others.

To Be Continued . . . But, for now, here are some earlier Employer Wellness posts:

1. State Employees Will Go From Fat to Fit--Or Else

2. Health vs. Privacy: Employers Continue to Juggle Both

3. What Does It Take to Be "Best Place to Work"?

4. Three Days of the Bar Exam and the Next Great Wellness Benefit

5. These Pumps Were Made for Walkin'

6. Are Employers Getting Pushy About Weight Loss?

7. Employers Should Know that Cancer Screening Saves Lives . . . And Money

8. More Employers Giving the Gift of Wellness--via gift cards

9. Employee Blogs as Part of Corporate Wellness Programs?

10. Employees, Prepare to Get Healthy, Like It Or Not!

11. DelaWELL, Delaware’s Health-Management Program for Public Sector Employees, Wins National NASPE Award

12. DOL Offers Compliance Checklist for Wellness Programs

13. Are Today's Wellness Programs Running Out of Steam?

Get Fit or Get Fired? No, but if you're employed by the State of Alabama, you'll have to pay higher insurance premiums.

Fat employees, beware. The State of Alabama has issued an official “crackdown” on unfit employees. That’s right. The state has issued a get-fit mandate. Employees have one year to “see the light,” so to speak. Either get moving towards thin or face a bulging health-care premium. Employees who fail to trim their waistlines will pay $25 a month for insurance that will be free to their leaner coworkers.

Alabama is the first state that has elected a “stick” approach to motivating employees to get healthy. There are a few states that offer rewards (i.e., carrots), to employees who make healthy lifestyle changes. Like many other employers, both public and private, Alabama already charges a premium to employees who smoke.

So what exactly is required? According to the New York Times article, Extra Pounds Means Insurance Fees for Ala. Workers, beginning in January 2010, state workers will be required to undergo health screenings—or face a monetary penalty if they refuse. If the screening reveals problems with blood pressure, cholesterol, or obesity, they are given one year to shape up or ship out. At a follow-up screening after twelve months, they won’t face the $25 charge.

And what will qualify employees for a passing grade when they take the screening test next year? Employees with a Body Mass Index (BMI) lower than 34 will be exempt from the “obesity charge.” A BMI of 30 is considered the threshold for obesity. And if you fail the screening? Other than being required to “make progress,” the State has not yet determined exactly how “progress” will be defined.

Maybe the most obvious question is just how the State of Alabama thinks that its out-of-shape employees, many of whom have been battling their weight, cholesterol, or other health issues for years, will suddenly develop the motivation, knowledge, and skills to make these changes. Deeply rooted lifestyle changes are not made because of an HR initiative.

If I sound cynical, it’s because I am. When employers stopped hiring smokers and charging employees who smoked, I was skeptical. Although there are obvious and undisputable benefits to a tobacco-free workforce, I worried that the proffered motivation was a bit too “glossy” to be true.

I also wondered how long it would be until there weren’t enough smokers left to make them a valuable target. At that point, what group would be the next to be targeted? I suspected it would be obese or overweight employees. It seems my prediction has come to fruition. At least for overweight government employees in a state where 30.3% of citizens are obese.

Wellness is a good thing. No one would debate the idea that a healthy workforce is a desirable workforce. What is questionable, though, is the role that an employer should play in “helping” its workforce to get healthy (and stay that way). Issues of employee privacy and paternalism are raised when employers begin “punishing” employees for what the employer considers to be unhealthy behavior. In a society where the line between work and home grows more blurry by the day, many have concerns that employers may be going to far when they regulate what its employees do during their off-duty, non-working time.

I’ve written many times before on initiatives to encourage workers to quit smoking and the “sticks” that may follow if they fail. I’ve also written about the recent surge in businesses that impose a “culture of thinness” on their employees. The popularity of wellness initiatives has caught on more quickly than you can say “Supersize.” Currently, 46% of employers offer incentive-based wellness plans and that number is expected to grow to 70% by 2009.

CNNMoney.com reports on an interesting story about one employer’s hard-line approach to achieving a healthy workforce. In “Lose Weight or Else!,” Mina Kimes discusses the wellness approach of Lincoln Industries. The metal-finishing company’s CEO, Marc LeBaron, brags about the company’s 100% participation rate—participation is mandatory.

Lincoln employees can take advantage of weekly yoga classes, gym memberships, and health seminars. And if they stick with it, they receive a $25 monthly discount on insurance premiums and a yearly cash reward of $160. But would your employees be as enthusiastic if they were required to get a quarterly checkup for body fat and blood pressure? Only 12% of employees reported that they are in favor of employer involvement in health care.

Want to know what it takes to be voted best place to work?  Ask the healthy employees of Wilmington, Delaware-based internet bank, ING Direct.  The healthy-factor is no coincidence.  ING takes its employees' wellness very seriously.

The bank has a full-time doctor and nurse in the building for employees' immediate access.  And employees can use the company's full-scale gym.  Known as The Energy Zone, the gym offers a variety of group fitness classes such as yoga and spinning, and even organizes a running club.  For $10 per month, employees can use the gym before, during, and after work--including weekends.  The Wellness Center offers weight-loss programs, access to personal trainers and cholesterol monitoring. 

According to the respondents, the good stuff doesn't stop at the doors of the Wellness Center, though.  81% think they have a great physical work environment.  And 85% feel their benefits package is good compared to others in their industry.  92% said they are proud to work for ING and 81% said they are motivated to give their best.  86% believe in the mission and the strategy--reporting that they feel that the company is moving in the right direction.

The bank is known for doing things its own way, which has turned out to be a very effective way for ING.  Since it opened in 2000, the bank has grown to more than 6.8 million account holders.  All without a single branch.  ING also prides itself in treating all of its 1,108 employees equally.  Instead of formal titles, employees work in a certain department--where managers sit in cubicles next to their direct reports.

Innovation is working for ING--and for its healthy employees.

Workplace wellness benefits are almost as common as retirement-plan benefits or life-insurance benefits.  I have a suggestion that I'd like to make regarding a potential addition to the wellness package offered by employers.  But before I make the suggestion, let me explain the circumstances that led to the idea.

I've spent three days proctoring the state bar exam, watching as a class of hopeful attorneys-to-be stagger down the halls.  Some have the blank stare frequently associated with zombies risen from the grave.  Others are in a cold sweat, hands trembling, tugging the jacket sleeve of another proctor in a panic because she doesn't know to what room she's been assigned.  The scene is one of quiet hysteria.  

For those of you lucky enough to not know much about the bar examination process, either personally or vicariously through a loved one's experience, let me set the stage.  Law students finish their third year of law school and, within days of graduation (if not sooner), begin what is known as the "bar review."  For two months, they make the daily trek into the nearest city to watch videos and receive lectures about a predetermined list of topics.  They may have studied these topics in their first, second, or third year of school--or not at all. 

When the day's lecture is over, the entire class marches en masse back out to the parking lot and return home--where they are encouraged to study for several more hours.  In the morning, everyone discusses how many practice questions they did the night before, how terrible they scored, and how certain they are that failure is inevitable.

The two-month ordeal is rooted in terror.  Three years of school while your college friends went on to the "real world" where they worked "real jobs" and earned very real paychecks, while you incurred three more years of very real school-loan debt. Then, suddenly, the moment that everyone has avoided for three years arrives--the bar exam. 

Should you somehow fail, which you are convinced you will certainly do, how will you earn a living?  How could you face your friends and family, nevertheless your new colleagues who expect that, surely, you will pass.  For those with enough determination to attempt a state bar exam like California, Delaware, or New York, where the pass rate usually grazes 50% of takers, these fears are at least statistically supportable. 

By the time this week finally arrives, the exam takers look, well, strung out.  They have the eyes of a crazy person and the wavering voice signaling instability.  They are just short of crossing over the line into unrecognizable despair but still clawing desperately to maintain clarity of thought long enough to write the dreaded essays.  In all, it's more than a little creepy. 

Some of the same creepiness pops up in the post-bar "real world."  Occasionally, you'll catch a glimmer of the creepiness in the eye of a colleague or adversary who, undoubtedly, has been working on a case for more consecutive days than he can recall.  He's been sleeping in 2-hour blocks on the couch in a partner's office.  But he continues to push onward, likely driven by a deeply rooted sense of terror similar to the emotions he felt during the bar exam. 

If you've ever seen the look, you know exactly what I mean. 

Now, let me try to connect this to my wellness suggestion.  I propose that businesses offer their employees . . . [drum roll, please]. . . a nap.  That's right, a nap.  Looking out at the sea of students-turned-zombies as they burn through massive amounts of Number 2 pencils, I can say with confidence that there are just times when a nap would be more appreciated than a coupon redeemable for cholesterol screening or a rebate on an annual gym membership. 

The cost is, well, nothing.  I suppose if you wanted to put a little glamour into it, you could build a "nap room" with a simple mattress, a few fluffy pillows and no windows or clocks.  Otherwise, those with offices could simply shut their door, put their head on their desks and zonk out without worry.  For anyone who recruits students before, during, or after the bar examination, you should give this a try.  Mention the nap idea and see what kind of changes you see in the candidate's expression.  I bet the creepiness disappears almost immediately.

For those employers who may need a bit more convincing, here's a video about the serious consequences faced by employees who aren't permitted to nap safely at work:

The Hazards of On-the-Job Napping

Corporate America, listen closely! Can you hear that sound?  It's the whoosh, thump, whoosh, thump, whoosh.  It's the pounding of feet on the two-ply treadbelt as it comes speeding around again and again.  Wait! What's it doing here, in Corporate America?  Your employer is going to make you healthy, darn it--like it or not!

Now, don't say you have no idea what I'm talking about.  Haven't you been reading our blog?  We've talked about employers' sheer determination to fight the battle of the bulge, whether employees like it or not.  We've talked about how many employers cite the rising costs of health care as the motivator for companies to implement wellness programs of every shape and size.  Employers have might even be getting pushy about their employees' health.  (Even to the point that some have begun to regulate what their employees' are scarfing down at meals).

And do these wellness programs actually work?  Some say yes, without a doubt.  Others say that wellness programs are running out of steam as more and more workers abandon their diet and exercise programs.  So, what is an employer who cares about its employees do to help them to learn to value a healthy, active lifestyle? 

Buy them a walkstation, of course! 

We posted about these walk-your-workday-away-machines back in March, at which time they were still more fantasy than reality.   But the collaborative news hounds of everything work-from-home related at Web Worker Daily, have an update. They report that Steelcase, the well-known manufacturer of office furniture, filing cabinets, and the like, has officially introduced the Walkstation to cubicle workers across the country.  From Web Worker:

Based on the idea that you can burn enough calories to make a difference, even if you don’t work up a sweat, the Walkstation marries an adjustable-height desk and monitor arm with a low-speed treadmill

There are plenty of other bells and whistles here, including a magnetic sensor that automatically stops the treadmill should you be carried away from your desk, and an optional convertible model that lets you switch from office chair to treadmill at the touch of a button. The drawback? Cost, mainly: buying one of these will set you back $4300.

If it's of any comfort, I am fairly competent that most employers won't be jumping at the idea of this size investment--especially after the first time the news reports that an employee was whisked right off of the Workstation, sustaining serious injuries and filing suit against her employer. 

Is the workplace the right place to fight the battle of the bulge?  With wellness programs on the rise, obesity among employees has been one of the most targeted health issues.

There seems to be a new study every week about the types of wellness initiatives that are being used, the effectiveness of the different initiatives, and the high cost of wellness programs.  And each study seems to generate different data. 

Despite the conflicting data, one common thread among many programs is the attempt to target obesity as a health risk.  A study by the Strategies to Overcome and Prevent Obesity (STOP) Alliance reports that 80 percent of employees, regardless of weight, believe that weight-management programs belong in the workplace.  71 percent reported that weight-management issues are appropriately addressed in the workplace. 

A recent article in BusinessWeek entitled "Hide the Doritos! Here comes HR" identified some well-known organizations that have declared war on calorie over-consumption.  According to the piece, companies such as Google, Yamaha, and Caterpillar have taken a first step by removing the junk food from all company kitchens and vending machines. 

[Source:  Human Resource Executive Online]

Other Posts about Employees' Off-Duty Conduct

Employees, Prepare to Get Healthy, Like It Or Not!

DelaWELL Wellness Programs Wins Award

DOL Offers Compliance Checklist for Wellness Programs

Are Wellness Programs on the Decline?

A Whirlpool of Excitement about Rights of Employees Who Smoke

Employees Who Smoke (Part 1) Smoking Breaks

Employees Who Smoke (Part 2) Charging Smokers Higher Health Care Premiums

Employees Who Smoke (Part 3) Employee Incentive Programs Targeted to Smokers

Delaware Employers & Employees Who Smoke (Part 4)

Employer Quits Its Smoking Policy

Not Everyone Is Fired Up About Smoking Ban

From Cancer Sticks to Drumsticks: How far should employers go when it comes to employees' health?

Workplace discrimination based on smoking habits and tobacco use has garnered national attention as a wide-spread employment practice.  Weyco, Inc. was the first large employer to make the news for its tough stance against smoking when it fired several employees after they failed to quit smoking.  Its actions have been at the center of the debate of an employer's right to control the on- and off-duty conduct of its employees.  (See the list of prior posts on this topic, below). 

Now, PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an organization perhaps best known for throwing blood on people wearing furs, has called on Weyco to take its policy to the next level. PETA has written to Weyco President Howard Weyers urging him to hire only vegetarians.

In its letter, PETA points out that the consumption of meat and other animal products has been conclusively linked to heart disease, diabetes, several types of cancer, and obesity. PETA also recommends that the company provide employees with free vegetarian lunches--a program that PETA is offering to help implement--to improve the health of the company's current employees.

"When you take into consideration all the diseases that have been linked to meat consumption, it adds up to a mountain of health care costs," says PETA's Ashley Byrne. "Discouraging smoking is a great idea, but if Weyco really wants to get serious about cutting costs, it'll urge its employees to ditch drumsticks as well as cancer sticks."

Other Posts on Smoking in the Workplace:

A Whirlpool of Excitement about Rights of Employees Who Smoke

Delaware Employers & Smoking Employees (Part 1) Smoking Breaks

Delaware Employers & Smoking Employees (Part 2) Charging Smokers Higher Health Care Premiums

Delaware Employers & Employees Who Smoke (Part 3) Employee Incentive Programs Targeted to Smokers

Delaware Employers & Employees Who Smoke (Part 4)

Employer Quits Its Smoking Policy

Not Everyone Is Fired Up About Smoking Ban

Employers interested in maintaining health-care costs, including hard costs like rising premiums as well as soft costs such as decreased productivity and absenteeism, have looked to wellness programs as a way to manage their employees' current health and prevent illness in the future.  Cancer screening is another way to achieve each of those objectives. 

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the U.S.  This year, 1.5 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer.  Nearly 600,000 will die from cancer and its effects.  With numbers this large, virtually every employer will eventually have to deal with the effect of cancer in the workplace.

One huge impact of cancer is the high cost of treatment.  According to a recent white paper by C-Change, encouraging and paying for cancer screening for employees is an effective way to reduce cancer-related costs, and to save lives in doing so.

The white paper reviews the cost-cost benefits of breast, colo-rectal, and cervical cancer on a business' bottom line.  A fact sheet also is available and makes for great support for providing employees with paid cancer screening.

Wellness programs, which are commonplace in corporate America, come in every variety. Some focus on certain unhealthy lifestyle choices, like smoking or lack of exercise.  Others target a certain rrsult, like lowering cholesterol or reducing blood pressure. And there are different ways to achieve these objectives--there are carrot programs that use reward-based incentives, stick programs that use punishment-based incentives, and programs that use a combination of both. A recent study of America's large employers show that wellness programs that use reward-based incentives are on the rise. 

  Here are some of the statistics from the survey:

• 75% of large employers offer formal health and wellness programs
• 50% have disease-management programs
• $100-$300 in incentives is awarded per employee each year
• Top 3 incentives: Gift cards, cash bonuses, and health-care-premium reductions
• 28% of these employers give give cards as incentives (up from 17% last year)
• 25% have successfully measured their ROI (up from 14% last year)
• 83% came out ahead of even (up from 66% last year)
• Maintaining employee motivation and measuring ROI were the two biggest challenges employers faced

When it comes to employee-wellness programs,for now, the carrot takes the day.

Other Posts on Wellness Programs:

Employees, Prepare to Get Healthy, Like It Or Not!

DelaWELL Wellness Programs Wins Award

DOL Offers Compliance Checklist for Wellness Programs

Are Wellness Programs on the Decline?

Blogging is good for you.  Wellness programs are intended to improve the overall health and well-being of employees. So why not combine the two?  Seems like a reasonable idea to me. 

Kevin O'Keefe at Real Lawyers Have Blogs posts about an article from Scientific American magazine that explores the therapeutic benefits of blogging.  From the article, written by Jessica Wapner:

Self-medication may be the reason the blogosphere has taken off. Scientists (and writers) have long known about the therapeutic benefits of writing about personal experiences, thoughts and feelings. But besides serving as a stress-coping mechanism, expressive writing produces many physiological benefits. Research shows that it improves memory and sleep, boosts immune cell activity and reduces viral load in AIDS patients, and even speeds healing after surgery.

.....

Scientists now hope to explore the neurological underpinnings at play, especially considering the explosion of blogs. According to Alice Flaherty, a neuroscientist at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital, the placebo theory of suffering is one window through which to view blogging. As social creatures, humans have a range of pain-related behaviors, such as complaining, which acts as a “placebo for getting satisfied,” Flaherty says. Blogging about stressful experiences might work similarly.

The "self-help" implications of blogging seems to be a powerful incentive for Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) to consider adopting blogs into their repertoires.  Of course, employers should decide in advance whether employees will be permitted to blog about work and implement a blogging policy if one doesn't already exist.

Wellness programs have sprung up all over Corporate America.  Employer-sponsored, these programs are based on the idea that healthy employees are happy employees and happy employees are productive employees.  Although they continue to be popular with businesses, recent studies seem to indicate that they are not very successful in helping employees make long-term improvements to their overall health.  See my prior post, Are Today's Wellness Programs Running Out of Steam?

Wellness Programs Haven't Kicked the Bucket Yet

But just when it seems that perhaps the trend towards regulating employees' weight, cholesterol levels, and cardiovascular health, might be fading, here comes the public sector, bringing up the rear. 

Workforce.com reports that at least two states have moved towards mandatory wellness programs:

A California Assembly committee passed a bill this month that would require employers contracting with the state to offer one or more wellness programs to their employees. A bill introduced in Michigan would require that the state give preference to employers that offer wellness programs in awarding contracts.

California Assembly Bill 2360, introduced by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, in February, would apply to employers with 10 or more employees bidding on state contracts worth more than $1 million. Businesses could comply in a variety of ways, such as subsidizing memberships to fitness clubs, setting up their own fitness facilities, sponsoring amateur sports teams composed of employees, or providing employees with health information.

Levine’s bill was introduced after state legislators rejected a sweeping health care reform proposal by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that, among other things, would have provided incentives to plan members such as gym memberships; weight management programs; and reductions in health insurance premiums to promote prevention, wellness and healthy lifestyles.

A.B. 2360 has been referred to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, where it will be considered along with all other bills that could have a financial impact on the state, according to a spokesman for Assemblyman Levine.

Michigan’s wellness measure would require the state’s Department of Management and Budget to give preference to business entities that have wellness programs in place for their employees in awarding a contract for services and items needed by state agencies. The bill does not define wellness beyond "a health promotion program offered by an employer to his or her employees."

A report by the Senate Fiscal Agency for the state of Michigan found that the bill, which was introduced in February 2007 by state Sen. Roger Kahn, R-Lansing, would have no fiscal impact on state or local government. The bill has been referred to the Michigan Senate Committee on Health Policy.

Delaware's health-management program for public sector employees, DelaWELL, was recently awarded the National NASPE award.  I'll be curious to see whether mandatory healthiness (if there is such a thing) will be more effective than voluntary, reward-based wellness programs.

Congratulations to the State of Delaware for winning the 2008 National Association of State Personnel Executives (NASPE) Eugene H. Rooney Jr. Award for its DelaWELL program.

DelaWELL is the State government's comprehensive health-management program for all full-time state, school district, charter school, and higher-education employees and pre-65 retirees. Spouses and dependents over the age of 18 who are covered under the state group health plan are eligible also.

DelaWELL encourages participants to live a healthy lifestyle as a way of controlling health-care costs. The program offerings are quite impressive:

• Confidential, online or paper-based Health Risk Assessment
• Onsite Biometric Health Screenings to include blood pressure, cholesterol, and glucose testing with review of personal results with a Health Coach
• Weight Watchers® offerings to assist employees in their weight management efforts
• Cardio Health Assessments available to employees only, first-come basis, 600 slots available
• Personalized Lifestyle & Disease Management Coaching Programs- delivery options include phone based, mail and online programs.
• Online Health Resources (Health and Safety Education Centers, Self-Care Resources, Wellness Library, Drug Database, Health Quizzes and Calculators, Recipes, Daily Health News, Quarterly Newsletter and Much More)
• Onsite Health Seminars, Events & Activities
• Health Education Campaigns/Communications/Incentives
• Unlimited Access to a HelpLine

Delaware will receive the award during the awards banquet on Tuesday evening, July 15, during NASPE's 2008 annual meeting. in Oklahoma City.

Information on the DelaWELL is available here.

[H/T to the Capital Comment Blog]

For previous posts on Wellness at Work, use this link.

Last week I posted about a new survey on the lack of commitment by employees to health and wellness programs sponsored by their employers. For those of you who were not deterred by that news, here's a[nother] helpful (and free) online tool from the Department of Labor (DOL).

In February, the DOL issued its Field Assistance Bulletin 2008-02, which is designed to help employers who are attempting to establish a Wellness Program while remaining compliant with HIPPA regulations.

The Wellness Program Analysis can be found here.

Do You Need the Checklist?

In short, the answer is "yes" if you are an employer with any kind of health-promotion or disease prevention programs. Also known as "Wellness Programs," these health-focused initiatives became popular early in the decade. Certainly you've heard of these programs, even if your workplace hasn't yet adopted one.

Wellness programs come in every shape and size. Some of the more benign programs promote cholesterol screenings or even advocate flue shots for employees. Others promote an all-around "healthy lifestyle" by giving employees financial rewards for regular attendance at a fitness club. And, as you may have read in some of my previous posts, smoking is also a very popular target of wellness programs.

So why the need for a government-agency-sponsored "checklist?" As with just about everything in the law, we lawyers just can't hardly stand to let anything be simple. Employers that utilize "wellness programs," as defined by law, must follow certain practices to avoid violating the anti-discrimination provision of the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA). (Be honest, did you even know there was such a thing as an anti-discrimination provision in the HIPAA statute? If you said "no," you wouldn't be alone.)

Wellness programs that are subject to the HIPAA regulations must meet either a "benign discrimination" exception or offer a reasonable "alternative standard" in order to be in compliance with the law. Which exception will depend on whether your program is considered a "standard-based" or "participation-based" program.

Standard-Based vs. Participation-Based Programs

Standard-based programs require participating employees to meet the stated objective in order to receive the offered reward. So, for an employee to successfully complete a cholesterol-reduction program, his cholesterol must actually be reduced.

Participation-based programs offer a reward to employees based on their participation, as opposed to their success. The reward cannot be conditioned on achievement of a specific health-related outcome. So, for a smoking-cessation program, employees can receive the reward so long as they complete the program. Whether or not the employee actually quits the habit does not effect their eligibility for the reward.

Discrimination In a Standard-Based Wellness Program

To comply with HIPAA, a standard-based program must satisfy five requirements:

1. The reward offered under the program must be limited to 20% of the applicable cost of coverage.

2. The program must be reasonably designed to promote health or prevent disease.

3. Individuals must be eligible to qualify to participate in the program at least once per year.

4. The reward must be available to all similarly-situated individuals.

5. The wellness program must have a reasonable alternative standard and disclose the alternative standard in all program materials that describe the program.

And what exactly is the "reasonable alternative standard" identified in the fifth prong?

For standard-based wellness programs to avoid a HIPAA violation, it must offer an "alternative standard." This means that an employee must be offered a reasonable alternative to the stated objective and still be able to achieve the reward. In the cholesterol-screening example, the objective is the attainment of a certain cholesterol target. An alternative standard would be nutrition counseling sessions. The standard must be made available to those for whom it is (1) unreasonably difficult due to a medication condition; or (2) medically inadvisable to satisfy the otherwise applicable standard.

Today's headline from Fox news says, "Despite Perceived Effectiveness, Most Employees Who Participate in Wellness Programs Do Not Stay Committed.". The survey, conducted by Guardian Life Insurance Company North America, reports the following statistic:

Nearly half of employees who have participated in wellness programs in the past three years admit that their commitment trails off after just a few years

Wellness programs have been all the rage for the past several years. Employers have been advocating a healthy lifestyle for their workforces by implementing a whole host of rewards programs. Employees are encouraged to get healthy by giving up tobacco, keeping their cholesterol in check, exercise, and eat right.

And, how, pray tell, do employers make this healthy magic happen? With a wave of the magic wand called "cash," of course! Employees who participate in their employer's wellness program are often rewarded with cash prizes, reduced health insurance premiums, or, maybe, just the satisfaction of a healthier lifestyle.

And what's in it for employers? For one, the hope of healthy employees who cost less in insurance premiums. You know the saying, "an ounce of prevention," . . .. Some subscribe to the theory that healthier employees are more productive employees who make more money for their employers and cost their employers less. Go figure!!

Why whistle while you work when you can walk? Another invention for the healthy-office initiative.

********************

So why, according to the survey, aren't employees sticking with it? Could it be that money really doesn't motivate? Could it be that a healthy lifestyle requires more effort than the average American worker is willing to give it?