Few companies have chosen to reduce or eliminate so-called "health and wellness benefits," such as reimbursements for yoga classes and gym memberships.
The recession has eliminated many signing benefits, such as moving expenses and signing bonuses. But many companies, are still trying to get workers into the gym. Gym membership is actually in a company’s best interest, says a recent article by MSNBC.com “Getting paid to get on that treadmill.”
As a result, few companies have chosen to reduce or eliminate so-called “health and wellness benefits,” such as reimbursements for gym memberships and preventative medicine.
While the recession has most companies slashing benefits, work hours, forced furloughs and even scrapping free coffee, using incentives to help employees exercise is seen to benefit everyone, especially long term health care costs. As the MSNBC article says:
“The rising cost of medical care is unsustainable and is a huge and legitimate concern to employers that pay for it,” says labor attorney Hanan Kolko. “During the past decade or so, health care costs have been rising at three times the rate of inflation. Every nickel that goes to pay for rising medical costs can’t pay for raises, pensions or 401(k) matches.”
The median health care expense per employee last year was $7,173, according to a recent survey by Watson Wyatt and the National Business Group on Health.
But companies save from $1.49 to $4.91 in health-related expenses for every dollar spent on wellness programs, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
That may be part of the reason why, despite the downturn, employers don’t seem to be skimping on their health and wellness initiatives.
A survey of about 500 human resources and benefit executives by professional services firm Towers Perrin found:
50 percent of companies have or will introduce or increase investments in wellness and health promotion in 2009 and 2010.
32 percent have or will introduce or increase financial incentives, such as bonuses or premium discounts, for wellness or health promotion activities in 2009 and 2010. Another 30 percent are considering this action.
45 percent say they are considering introducing or increasing penalties for nonparticipation in wellness or health promotion activities.
That last statistic about considering penalties for lack of participation is a very interesting development and one that could see some push back from employees and lawmakers alike. Forcing anyone to do something in order to receive a benefit can be a challenging position, yet it speaks to the impact health care costs are having on companies’ bottom lines.
While it may be good for the employer, it’s even better for employees in terms of relieving stress, helping attain better sleep and staving off the effects of aging. For those who suffered a layoff, keeping fit through diet and exercise is seen as one of the best ways to stay motivated through a tough job search period.
Some victims of a layoff are known to battle depression, give up eating, abuse alcohol and drugs, and withdraw from participating in life. Exercising is seen as a great way to help feel good about yourself which should translate in to more positive feelings. Those good feelings are what you need for more confident networking experiences and keeping negative habits from getting in the way of your success.
(Yoga Class by Carolyn Coles via Flickr, CC3.0)
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