Corporate Wellness BlogCorporate wellness and employee wellness blog

Is It Necessary to Incent Organizations to Initiate Corporate Wellness Initiatives?

Corporate Wellness Incentives may seem like an effective way to get staff members excited about Employee Health Promotion – but is it wise?

This helps and encourages companies to understand the importance of maintaining a healthy staff members, not only for the welfare of its staff members, but as well as the welfare of the corporate bottom line … then, yes, it could be necessary.

Tax Breaks as Corporate Wellness Incentives

In 2007, two senators decided to band together to create the “Healthy Workforce Act.” This act is designed to encourage companies to keep staff members healthy and prevent disease. The senators believed that having a country focused on “well care” versus “sick care” would decrease the overall costs of health care for everyone. They decided to start with America’s staff members.

The legislation, introduced by Iowa Senator Tom Harkin and Oregon Senator Gordon Smith, states that companies would receive a Corporate Wellness incentive – a fifty percent tax credit – if they offer to their staff members a Corporate Wellness Program that meets the following criteria:

1) A health education and awareness component, which could include health risk assessments and health screenings.
2) A behavioral change component – such as counseling, seminars, or self-help materials to empower staff members to lead healthier lifestyles.
3) A supportive environment component – including providing meaningful incentives to participating staff members, such as a reduction in health premiums or allowing staff members to engage in walking wellness during the workday.
4) The creation of an staff member engagement committee – which would tailor the Corporate Wellness Program to the needs of the staff members at a particular corporation.

If this legislation gets passed, many companies will be scrambling to offer Corporate Wellness Initiatives in hopes of receiving the Corporate Wellness Incentives.