A workplace wellness plan that includes not just the unhealthy employees but the healthy ones too can save the company money.
A University of Michigan study of workplace wellness program of a Midwest Utility company who spent US$ 7.3 million on the wellness program over 9 years reap the reward of US$ 12.1 million in savings.
Unlike many other studies that are short-term and on the same group of employees, this study differed in 3 important ways:
- It showed that a wellness program can work long-term even though some employees who participated in the program aged during the study.
- The program took into account bottom line cost for implementing the wellness plan; recruitment cost of changing menus in addition to the direct cost of employee participation.
- It looked at lost time, drugs and medical cost.
The average cost to implement the wellness plan was US$ 100 per employee irrespective of employee participation. Employees who participated in the program 100% of the time increase health care cost by US$ 96, while employees who don’t participate in the program increase health care cost by US$ 355.
Companies are realizing that while insurance plan must care for sick employees, those plans must include wellness plan to keep healthy employees healthy. It is cheaper to keep employees remaining healthy than to move them from being sick to healthy.
Do you have a wellness plan in your company? Check out my corporate wellness program and contact me to explore how I can help your company develop a comprehensive wellness program.
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