Personal Wellness

How can our company increase participation in the corporate wellness program?

Having a corporate wellness program in place can improve morale, improve fitness and health and increase productivity in the workplace. Now that you’ve taken the steps necessary to implement a corporate wellness program, how do you get your workers interested and willing to participate?

By implementing healthful eating habits, exercise and offering incentives, your workers won’t only sign up for the wellness program, but they’ll stick with it.

Does your corporation have an onsite fitness center that employees have access to? If not, offering free or discounted fitness center memberships to a local fitness center could be an effective method for getting employees to exercise. Whether the fitness center is on or off-site notwithstanding, permitting employees to use the facility during work hours, such as on their lunch break, will increase the likelihood that they’ll exercise.

Rewarding employees’ achievements is another way to keep them aroused and living a healthy lifestyle. Establishing business goals such as collectively walking a certain number of miles, supports team building. Offering incentives such as gift cards, certificates of achievement, and even a day off work can be effective ways to keep participation levels up.

Since there will likely be less sick days being used due to illness, your company could  be able to afford to offer a day off pass as an incentive. These incentives don’t have to be expensive, just valuable to the staff member.

Providing a healthy lunch once a week for staff members participating in the corporate health plan, is a great way to promote healthy consuming. Offering an incentive of healthy, delicious, free food is one way to reward staff members for their efforts while supporting their new healthy lifestyle.

Having a corporate wellness program in place will provide long term benefits to both the corporation and the workers. This is one corporate plan that is certainly worth your time and money!

Why should our company host a corporate health fair?

Do you work in your corporation’s HR department? Are you looking for events to plan for your corporation this year? If so, it’d be a excellent idea to look into hosting a corporate health fair. Corporate health fairs are valuable to both the company and the worker because they promote overall health, awareness and prevention.

What kind of providers are at a health fair?

There are many vendors to pick from when bringing a corporate wellness fair to your company. the most well-liked vendors include dentists, massage therapists, chiropractors, nutritionists and the American Red Cross. These few well-liked vendors are a part of a long list available to attend wellness fairs.

How do we select which vendors to include in the wellness fair?

While most vendors are excellent for all workers, there are some vendors available for companies with a specific demographic. for example, when your business has a lot of pregnant women or women of child bearing age, it may be a good idea to have a vendor in particular talking about prenatal care.

When there are a lot of smokers at your corporation, you could want to have the American Lung Association present. Attempt to pick vendors that meet your employees’ needs. Remember that hosting a corporate health fair is meant to be beneficial to them.

When should we hold a health fair?

Anytime is a great time to host a health fair. Notwithstanding, you could want to consider not scheduling around holidays or busy seasons so that you can maximize participation. Another great option is having the corporate health fair on a weekend and making it family friendly. Corporate health fairs help keep everybody healthy, accordingly increasing work productivity.

Not only does hosting a corporate health fair promote health, it also builds camaraderie between peers, improving team building and communication in the office. It’s a win-win for both the employer and the employee!

Wellness programs have been shown to reduce absenteeism, worker turnover rates, and healthcare costs. It is a key piece of a corporation’s success. the results of these programs lead to higher productivity, which in the end leads to a more profitable business.

In order for these programs to run properly and produce results they must have a clear operating plan with an attainable and measurable goal. the programs must also encourage all staff members to lead a healthful lifestyle while at work and at home.

Wellness programs have been introduced to businesses all over the country to make employees healthier and in turn happier. Corporations which implement these programs do so to varying degrees. Some simply offer literature about how to live a healthful lifestyle and reduce stress while at work.

Some businesses offer biometric testings and health risk (assessment|appraisal}s for free during the year to help employees understand what is going on with their health and what they can do to improve it.

At the top of the list, there are the corporations which offer free, onsite gyms and aerobics programs to be used during lunch breaks or after work. No matter what is offered it’d be a waste not to take advantage of these wellness programs.

It requires careful planning and thought to begin wellness programs. Once a program is put into place it is very important to reassess and analyze it a few times to reach the primary goal –  healthier employees.

All the programs that are put in place must be investigated after a determined time frame to help the business understand what needs to be changed or kept in place to maintain corporate wellness.

Everybody knows today that working in corporate America could be a stressful situation. It seems that workers are expected to work longer hours and spend more time away from home. Long commutes and big amounts of work are taking its toll on American office staff members. Something should be done; company wellness is a good way to begin to help all those stressed out staff members.

Beginning corporation wellness programs can help create a healthy culture. There ought to be an incentive program set up to drive interest to wanting to be more health conscious. Making good decisions that affect health now and in the future ought to be rewarded as individual’s goals are met.

There are a number of wellness ideas that a company wellness program can help plan for. Some ideas include giving out maps of walking or jogging trails located near the workplace. It’s a good idea to post a steps collected map on the workplace wall where all workers can log their steps or miles.

Be sure to help encourage joggers, walkers, and those who enjoy other forms of exercise to form fitness groups to meet before work, during lunch, or after work.

In a corporation environment, relationship development is also an area where aligning cultural touch points are necessary. Be certain to work culture affects health practices.

Employees will either form personal relationships in a bad way, like smoking in the break room, or they will form relationships doing something more physical like going for a round of golf for relaxation and developing friendships with fellow employees. Be sure to work ought to be done to develop healthful venues to develop professional friendships and relationships.

There are so many good benefits for a company choosing  to make company wellness a priority. Workers who participate in wellness programs are more likely to be the best employees.

Colleague relationships in the workplace are important to creating a healthy lifestyle culture that lasts. as an added bonus, overall job satisfaction is better if workers are feeling well and healthy while doing their work.

Corporate wellness is among the most vital investments that a business can make. Corporations that start wellness programs are not only investing in the physical wellness, safety, and mental health of their staff members, but are also taking preventive measures by creating a healthier environment.

By implementing a wellness program, companies are able to improve the overall productivity and are able to save money on health expenses. Often, companies are concerned about the actual wellness ROI (return on investment) but the reality is that by encouraging healthier lifestyles, companies are creating healthier employees who will work more diligently and miss fewer days of work due to illness.

It’s imperative that companies not only provide corporate wellness solutions for their employees, but that they also maintain ongoing knowledge about safety and wellness techniques. Businesss need to keep up to date on health statistics and stay aware of ways to encourage specific wellness issues such as tobacco use cessation or weight loss.

It’s often helpful for a business to speak with physicians who participate in medical Continuing Medical Education so that they’re up to date with how they can assist their employees in maintaining wellness.

Additionally, when a corporation maintains an on-site fitness club, it’s necessary that the corporation employs individuals who have received the proper training and certification, which makes up the fitness club management, to assist employees with exercising safely.

Although companies may establish a extensive wellness program with many options, an incentive wellness program is often necessary to encourage workers to actually participate in the programs.

Whether one is creating a corporate wellness Chicago or a corporate wellness small-town Nebraska program, the issue that companies often have in common, is the lack of motivation of workers to actually participate. Providing incentives for workers, like a free lunch or gift cards, might  be simple enough rewards to encourage workers to participate in corporate wellness.

Do you know the fastest-growing reason for employee assistance program (EAP) use since 2003?  

It isn’t for substance abuse or depression. Actually, it’s financial in nature. Over the last five years, there’s been a announced 69% jump in employee employee assistance program (EAP) use related to personal financial concerns.

The trend is not all that surprising in this era of salary freezes, high deductibles and cost-sharing of benefits premiums.

Statistics show that, for the first time since the Excellent Depression, the typical American has negative savings – in other words, debt exceeds income – in a typical month.

A lot of workers are racking up high credit card debt, make the problem worse.

Troubling trends

Here are some ominous numbers from a recent staff member survey –

• 27% of respondents said they were “one major setback away from financial disaster”

• 22 percent say they were “worse off than last year, with less take-home income and more debt”

• 40 percent say their business is “insensitive to their employees’ financial needs,” and

• only 6 percent said they felt comfortable with their current financial situation and ability to manage their debts.

The majority of personal-finance related employee assistance program (EAP) use arises from concerns over debt management, household refinancing and/or failed investments.

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Permitting workers to bring camera phones to work can carry hidden legal risks.  

But should you tackle this issue aggressively or trust your workers to do the right thing?  Every business wants to develop an environment where workers feel trusted by management. But there’s also the need to stay protected legally, and it isn’t always easy to balance the two.

The cell phone issue is in particular delicate since most employees carry them nowadays, and improper use at work is a non-issue for the vast majority. But there are always several bad apples in every bunch.

Growing number of complaints

There has been an explosion of lawsuits – and complaints to management – about employees taking inappropriate photos at work with their cell phone cameras.

Most cases revolve around embarassing or expliclit photos of colleagues (sometimes but not always posted on the Internet or e-mailed to others in the office). Nonetheless, a handful of lawsuits have arisen from workers taking photos of confidential documents or other internal information.

As most benefits and HR veterans would tell you, the most valuable benefit an organization can offer its employees is a workplace where they feel trusted and valued. Contrarily, it only takes one “joke” gone too far to stir up a hornet’s nest of trouble. and no firm is immune from this risk.

Three options

One step every corporation ought to take is circulating a memo or having a face-to-face meeting with staff members about the need to restrict camera phone use at work, says labor lawyer William Hannum.

This is the time to answer questions and make clear that the policy is a matter of a legal concern, not a case of Big Brother watching over employees’ shoulders. for added legal protection, you may want to develop a formal camera phone policy to be written staff member handbooks.

Some corporations have gone so far as to take the step of banning camera phone (or personal cell phone) use at work and prohibiting people  from posting personal photos or videos from company computers.

Nonetheless, these policies are difficult to enforce and run the risk of alienating the majority of workers who use the devices responsibly.

As an alternative, several firms that haven’t banned camera phones have had workers sign a policy that gives managers permission to review photos or videos on the phone when there’s a complaint. If you go down either of these routes, remember –

• the policy ought to be enforced consistently

• your policy must detail specific steps for filing and investigating  a complaint, and

• the policy should obviously spell out the disciplinary steps for violations.

The enforcement aspect is specifically tricky. In cases where the phones are company property, employers clearly have the right to control non-work use – which includes requiring staff members to turn over the contents stored on the phone in cases of suspected abuse. Staff Members have no legal expectation of privacy in such cases.  

Nonetheless, there’s a slippery slope when the phone is an employee’s property. as a rule of thumb, employers generally have the right to inspect the contents as they pertain to alleged inappropriate behavior within the workplace.

Where it gets tricky is dealing with behavior that takes places on the employee’s private time, but overlaps with the workplace (e.g., employees go out socializing at a bar after work, and potentially embarassing camera phone photos get spread around the workplace). Legal specialists caution employers to tread very carefully in these cases.

Where does your organization stand?

Does your organization have – or is considering a policy on staff member camera phones? Do you think such policies are workable or even appropriate?

In my conversations with attendees at the SHRM conference in Chicago, HR and benefits managers appear to be divided on the issue.

In a value-based plan, the idea is to reward employees for seeking treatments that promote wellness.

The more clinically viable the treatment, the less an staff member pays out of pocket for it.

Example –  Women over 40 and younger workers with a family history of breast cancer pay less for a each year mammogram than workers for whom the test isn’t as necessary.

Value-based plans often work better than high-deductible plans when used in combination with standard wellness program features such as health risk (assessment|appraisal}s.

Five target areas

As reported by the May 2008 issue of Simply Well, there are four quality-of-care criteria that have emerged as key benchmarks of the quality of care –  healthcare management, preventive screenings and treatments, member service and access to care.

Areas of care that are of particular concern –

• Employees’ dependents receiving appropriate and timely childhood/adolescent immunizations

• Breast cancer screenings for female medical plan enrollees, ages 52 to 64

• Diabetic staff members receiving hemoglobin A1C and LDL-C testing

• Members receiving proper referrals and treatment for mental health issues (e.g., primary care doctor refers a patient to a expert to ensure proper prescription and management of an anti-depressant medication)

• Pregnant staff members receivig time and appropriate prenatal and postpartum care, and avoidance of antibiotic treatment in adults with acute bronchitis.

The quality of care for many of the aforementioned issues can suffer when staff members foot too much of the bill out of their own pockets.

The hope for value-based plans is that staff members get some cost relief and obtain treatments that’ll reduce costs in the long run.

As scary as they seem at first glance, complying with HIPAA’s privacy rules may be relatively painless.

Contrary to common belief, the rules – with a few key exceptions – apply only to a fraction of the health information Benefits handles.

As long as the business remains legally “hands off” of employee’s private medical information, you can dodge most of the HIPAA bullet.

For health insurance portability and accountability act (HIPAA) privacy purposes, your firm is considered “hands off” even when you obtain de-identified personal information, aggregate claims data and routine enrollment info.

Bottom line –  When your organization’s health plans are fully insured and the claims administered through a TPA, the insurance business – not your firm – bears the brunt of the HIPAA privacy compliance responsibility.

One major exception –  medical cafeteria plans. In most cases, you’ve two compliance options –

• Process reimbursement requests first through your TPA, with the TPA making sure the claim qualifies under the terms of the cafeteria plan before your firm reimburses it, or

• Develop a written cafeteria plan privacy policy, issue a notice to staff members, appoint a privacy officer and amend your plan documents.

Rarely affects FMLA

A lot of people  - including health care providers – misunderstand how health insurance portability and accountability act (HIPAA) affects medical certifications for FMLA leave. the key –  health insurance portability and accountability act (HIPAA) only applies to personal information that filters through your health plan, not certifications obtained from a doctor.

Under FMLA, you’re permitted to obtain the minimum information you need to approve and administer leave. In like fashion, health insurance portability and accountability act (HIPAA) doesn’t apply to most workers’ comp, return-to-work notices or disability claims.

Even so, it pays to be cautious how you ask for and use the information. Other state and federal privacy laws often protect the same types of info people  assume falls under health insurance portability and accountability act (HIPAA).

Following procedures

The HIPAA privacy rules are heavy on paperwork and procedure.

But if your firm follows  the info-gathering process spelled out in your medical plan documents, the health insurance portability and accountability act (HIPAA) privacy rules should present few major obstacles.

A lot of firms are still missing an opportunity to trim some medical plan expenses.

Generic versions of high-cholesterol drug Zocor have been on market for two years now, but a fair share of company drug store plans have yet to make the switch.

If your PBM gives generic Zocor favored status on the formulary, now’s a good time to remind employees –

• most individuals  on cholesterol-control meds will get the same therapeutic value from generic Zocor as from the label brand and the more potent – and still patented – Lipitor

•  they are able to save $10 to $50 (or more, depending on your drug plan design) on their co-pay by switching, but

•  they should ask their doctor first. People  with cholesterol levels over 200 and/or family histories of  ultra-high cholesterol may  be better off staying on Lipitor.

Reason –  It takes four times the amount of a Zocor-type medication  to equal one dose of Lipitor.