National Health Worksite Program Selection
A coordinated approach to workplace health promotion results in a planned, organized, and comprehensive set of programs, policies, benefits, and environmental supports designed to meet the health and safety needs of all employees
Healthy Eating Starts at Firm's Garden
Turnips, cabbage and radishes are all fall vegetables that can be found in any home or community garden. But what about at work? The employees at FBMC Benefits Management started an urban garden of their own in the spring, said Glenda Atkinson, FBMC wellness coordinator.
After several years of economic woes and health care reform wrangling, the only certainty in the future of workplace benefits may be continued uncertainty. But employers, human resources professionals and insurance brokers who want to be prepared for 2012 should pay attention to several emerging trends. Here are the top five predictions for the coming year, according to experts at Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company, one of the nation's leading employee benefit providers:
Support for Tax Credits for Workplace Wellness Programs
Assembly Bill 220 and Senate Bill 164, which provide a tax credit to small businesses for 30 percent of the costs of a workplace wellness program, support Wisconsin employers’ efforts to reduce their health care costs and those of their employees.
LAKE OSWEGO, Ore., Oct. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — West Coast Bancorp (WCBOD) was named one of the Healthiest Employers in Oregon by The Portland Business Journal, ranking in the top ten of the large employer category. The award recognized companies that promote the value of workplace wellness and demonstrate innovation and leadership in their wellness programs.
Workplace Wellness Leads to Lower Health Care Costs - Chicago Tribune
There is no doubt that businesses are looking to run lean and mean in today's economy, but those that fail to make room for employee wellness are only supersizing future health care bills.
I commend Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel for his recently announced plans to pursue a workplace wellness program for city employees and encourage Chicago's other civic and business leaders to follow his lead.
Bosses to Employees: Shape up or Pay up
If you’re obese, smoke, have high blood pressure or high cholesterol, a growing number of employers want you to get fit — or else.
Oklahoma Business Group Seeks to Promote Worker Wellness
MUSKOGEE, Okla.—A task force launched recently by the Greater Muskogee Area Chamber of Commerce aims to make Okies from Muskogee among the healthiest and most productive workers in the nation.
Chickasaw Nation named Start! Fit Friendly Worksite
The Chickasaw Nation was recently recognized as a Platinum-Level Start! Fit-Friendly Company by the American Heart Association’s Start! initiative for promoting overall health and wellness among tribal employees.
HR and Finance Directors Agree Over Employee Health
Wellbeing increasingly discussed at board level, research finds
Finance directors are equally as concerned about employee health and wellbeing as HR directors, with the issue increasingly being discussed at board level, research has found.
Work” and “wellness” are not often used in the same sentence.
For many Americans, preventive health care is completely disconnected from their daily work routines. However, over the past few years, the connection between the work environment, employee health and employee productivity has been examined with increasing scrutiny.
Prioritizing Wellness in the Workplace
I know I’m not alone when I say I want to live more mindfully. If the billions of dollars Americans are spending on wellness practices and preventative healthcare are any indication, plenty of people out there agree with me.
Small Business can benefit from high-quality employee wellness programs
A new study published today supports the premise that high-quality employee wellness programs in small businesses improve employee health and well-being, which drives improvements in organizational outcomes such as absenteeism, healthcare costs and disability claims.
Oklahoma City - In 2010, Strong & Healthy Oklahoma, a division of the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH), conducted a 12-question survey to capture current physical activity, nutrition, and tobacco programs/resources across the state.
Though management support is a key to success in workplace wellness programs, keeping managers on board can be a struggle.
Managers who make wellness program participation easy — along with being good examples — help create an atmosphere where employees can thrive
Health Enhancement Systems defines the role of leadership in a newly released white paper, Management Support: Inspiring Wellness Leadership.
Numerous studies show the positive impact of management support on employee health, retention, wellness program participation, productivity — and ultimately on the bottom line.
Overall, managers wield a powerful influence on employee morale, workloads, team communication, and job satisfaction, according to the extensive research summarized in this 8-page white paper. Managers often decide the scope, budget, and time off for wellness program activities as well. They can champion the efforts or doom them to failure.
“Managers who make wellness program participation easy — along with being good examples — help create an atmosphere where employees can thrive,” notes Dean Witherspoon, Health Enhancement Systems President and Founder.
The white paper — available as a free download — offers ideas like these:
* Involve managers at all levels in policy development and implementation to promote their buy-in. After all, they will be the ones approving flexible scheduling, reducing workplace stress, encouraging stretch and walk breaks, and boosting overall participation among employees.
* Ask executives, managers, and front-line supervisors to inspire employees by sharing success stories, informally or formally, and visibly participating in onsite wellness campaigns.
The Essential Elements of Effective Workplace Programs and Policies for Improving Worker Health and Wellbeing is a resource document developed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) with substantial input from experts and interested individuals
Were you aware that as part of the health care reform law, small businesses (with 100 employees or less) will have an opportunity to get grant dollars from our government to implement workplace wellness programs? During fiscal years 2011 and 2012, there will be $200-million available for small business workplace wellness programs. Details regarding how to apply for these grants have not been released yet.
Wellness Program, Small vs. Big Choices
Can a small organization support employee wellness? Absolutely! Truly, in some ways it’s easier to develop a healthy workplace in a small organization than in a big company.
“Our health insurance had escalated to the point that we were considered max rated and were paying outrageous health insurance premiums,” president Anne Eilers said.
Workplace Wellness Program Facts
The last ten years has brought major changes in corporation attitudes toward health promotion programs. Interest in self-help and self-care programs has increased as growth in health care costs have encroached substantially into profits.
7 Simple Steps to an Effective Workplace Wellness Survey
Your workplace wellness survey is a crucial tool in shaping the future of wellness within your organisation and whilst it should be one of a range of mechanisms you use for gleaning information as to what is popular, what works and what doesn’t.
Fresh Vending Machines Should be a Part of Workplace Wellness
As the rate of obesity cases increases rapidly across the nation, corporations are more than welcome to initiate wellness program on their employees to cut cost on swelling insurance premiums and at the same time keep the productivity of their business.
Employee Wellness - Wellness Program Facts
The last ten years has brought major changes in corporation attitudes toward health promotion programs. Interest in self-help and self-care programs has increased as growth in health care costs have encroached substantially into profits
Workplace Exercise Programs - Safety Concerns
Make safety a key concern when planning physical activity in your workplace. An accident or injury won’t “sell” the program and might end up costing the company. This section will help you take the necessary steps to avoid an accident or injury.
Despite the vast majority (91%) of workers believing that it is their employer's responsibility to create a healthy working environment, nearly a third (32%) of employees feels their workplace actually hinders their ability to lead a healthy lifestyle, according to new independent research commissioned by the World Heart Federation and conducted by Opinion Health
Making Workplace Wellness Programs Work
Workplace wellness programs might be the talk of the nation.
Workplace wellness programs might be the talk of the nation. But do they work? If they don't or your company doesn't have one, how can you design one of your own?
Wellness Program: Health Promotion Program Design Choices
The wellness program design choices depend on the objectives and desired outcomes of your wellness program.
In a competition for new businesses and jobs, Oklahoma recently fell a little further behind our competition in neighboring states.
Wellness committees are important in that they create a sense of ownership in the health promotion program, and facilitate various tasks involved in health promotion programming at the workplace.
Wellness Programs - Small vs. Big Business Choices
Can a small business support company wellness? Absolutely! In fact, in some ways it’s easier to create a healthy workplace in a small business than in a big business.
Battle Against Obesity Moves into the Workplace
At a small Sanford, Fla., company, everyone’s talking about weight.
Walk in wearing a new dress, as Paulette Howard did one day recently, and everyone oohs and aahs — and wants to know what size it is. Every week, they want to know how much their colleagues have gained and lost
Oklahoma Certified Healthy Business Program
To apply for the 2010 Oklahoma Certified Healthy Business Program, click the link below.
Wellness- Is that your business?
Chair Becky Knight will be speaking Oklahoma City HR Society Thursday August 26, 2010.
Commitment is needed from plans
Visit the BCBSNC workplace in Durham, N.C., and you'll notice a tobacco-free campus, onsite clinic, fitness centers, healthy choices in the cafeteria, and competitions that encourage employees to be physically active.
What New Wellness Rules Mean for You
Compliance with health insurance portability and accountability act (HIPAA) non-discrimination rules is a big challenge for wellness programs. The old rules were unclear about which incentives passed muster.
Mid-Size Companies Beginning to Implement Wellness Programs on a Large Scale
It is a well-documented fact that a majority of large companies (businesses with over 8,000 employees) offer health and wellness programs to their employees to keep their employees healthy, motivated, and productive while also lowering their healthcare costs.
Three Ways Wellness Programs Fail
When it comes to wellness programs, it may be tough to get past all the hype. Here's how to avoid the three most common traps corporations fall into.
Employers Using an Arsenal of Tools to Combat Workplace Stress: Survey
Employers understand the detrimental effects stress is having on their organizations, and are responding with multiple strategies to help workers cope, a recent survey by Buck Consultants, A Xerox Company indicates.
CertainTeed Launches Vegetable Garden
Workers at McPherson CertainTeed Molded Products Plant are enjoying a few more vegetables during their breaks, thanks to a new employee garden.
United States Wellness Programs - Do's and Don'ts
Wellness programs vary greatly.
Economy Up, Worker Stress Down? Think Again. Results from the Marlin Company Workplace Survey
The Marlin Company workplace survey reveals worker stress over economic anxiety. Distraction on the job is leading to lapses in concentration causing mistakes and accidents.
Leadership Support, Sound Employee Engagement Tactics are Essential to Wellness Program Success
Employers are uniquely positioned to be change agents and to inspire employees to adopt healthier lifestyles for the long term, say experts at DSM Personalized Nutrition.
Dieting for Dollars? More US Employees Trying It
How much money would it take to get you to lose some serious weight? $100? $500? Many employers are betting they can find your price.
June 2010 is the 2nd annual National Employee Wellness Month
National Employee Wellness Month brings awareness to the importance of creating healthier and more physically active communities int he workplace and the critical role a proactive approach towards wellness plays in reducing national healthcare costs.
Local Business Opens New Health and Wellness Center
Health care and wellness programs are now more accessible — and often free — to Hobby Lobby employees. The arts and crafts retailer was to open a new health clinic today at its Oklahoma City corporate headquarters.
Workplace wellness programs are an effective way to reduce major risk factors for heart disease, such as smoking, obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes, says a new American Heart Association policy statement.
Our surroundings have a direct link to our lives. Since we spend 40 or more hours at our jobs weekly, it is essential to your health and longevity that your place of work is as conducive to wellness as possible.