Corporate health promotion is important to the U.S.’s workforce. There’s certainly room for health promotion programs. However, some groups do not support health promotion programs in the workplace. Here are two common reasons why –
Corporate Wellnes and Privacy Rights
Privacy rights seem to be the primary opposition to health promotion programs. Some people believe that employers have no right to tell workers to eat healthful or lose twenty pounds.
This opinion seems to be made stronger by the hundreds of businesses seeking the help of law firms to start more assertive health promotion programs. What a person does with his/her body is certainly a privacy issue.
However, health promotion programs were initiated to be encouraging ways to help employees get fit by offering incentives and free health programs. When company health promotion is brought back to its original mission and participation was not monitored or mandatory, there would be far less privacy issues.
Company Health Promotion – Incentives or Penalties
Consequences rarely motivate someone like incentives do. Groups opposing health promotion programs are citing that some corporations are threatening unhealthy workers with consequences for not participating or succeeding in their health promotion program.
An example of such a case is a company based in Indianapolis that started deducting $10.00 from each paycheck for every worker with a Body Mass Index above 29.9 because not enough staff members were utilizing the corporation’s health promotion program.
Employees are much more likely to participate in health promotion programs if there are incentives like cash bonuses, time off work or free products rather than the threats of consequences.
Although both of these reasons are valid ones to oppose health promotion programs, both issues can easily be resolved by bringing employee health promotion back to its primary mission.
These programs were not meant to invade privacy or punish unhealthful person, and the majority does not. They were and are meant to be a benefit to both the company and staff member.
By encouraging and supporting program participants, companies will likely experience success.
Corporate Wellness Companies