Companies improve their bottom lines with wellness programs in a variety of ways. They reduce tardiness, absenteeism, injuries, health-care costs, workers' compensation claims and lawsuits. They increase profits through increased productivity, as well. Case studies of companies that have determined their wellness program benefits demonstrate this is more than theory.
General Wellness Program Examples
Wellness programs can include any or a combination of the following: weight management, diet, smoking cessation, pregnancy counseling, stress management, alcohol and drug counseling, depression counseling, fitness, mammography, cholesterol and blood pressure screenings, gym memberships and exercise equipment purchase rebates, weight-loss contests and flu shots. Some of these programs provide health professionals to work directly with employees, while others help educate workers so they can improve and maintain their own health.
Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad created a self-care wellness program, encouraging employees to improve their health by quitting smoking, exercising and improving their diets. The company built a fitness center at its headquarters and provided group and one-on-one counseling. The company decreased health-care spending, saving more than $1 million during the first year of the program. It estimated it increased its productivity more than 50 percent as employees reduced their weight, cholesterol, smoking and blood pressure.
Wellness Maricopa
The Maricopa Community College District, headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, provides faculty and staff with health benefits. To help reduce the district's costs and to keep workers on the job, the district created a wellness program for its employees that includes classes covering smoking cessation, weight control, fitness, nutrition and stress management. The program also includes fitness and activity programs, training sessions on maximizing health-care benefits, free health screenings, mammograms, wellness fairs and flu shots. The district also publishes a wellness newsletter for employees, available for free download at its website.
DuPont Corporation
DuPont instituted a wellness program that focused on weight management, fitness, stress management, cholesterol reduction, tobacco cessation and heart health. After two years, the company saw a 14 percent decrease in blue collar work force disability days. At DuPont's Tennessee plant alone, the company saved more than $100,000 each year in disability pay.
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