Wellness perks and programs have become a mainstay for corporations everywhere, from the conditional — like discounts on premiums for employees who score well on health assessments, to gentle nudges — like voluntary group fitness at work or workplace meditation rooms. And these offerings will only increase in the coming years.
of employers participate
According to data from RAND, 69% of employers surveyed in 2013 had purchased screening or intervention services.
spent annually
Current estimates peg dollars spent on corporate wellness programs at $50 billion globally, expected to grow about 7% annually.
of HR professionals enhanced benefits to improve retention
Benefits and perks also signal to prospective employees: “Hey, we care about you; come work for us!” According to a 2016 survey, nearly one-fifth of HR professionals altered their benefits program to aid in the retention of employees over a 12 month period.
Employers offer these benefits for a simple reason: A healthy workforce costs them less — in terms of medical bills and sick days.
$225.8 B
in lost employee productivity every year
Productivity losses linked to absenteeism cost employers $225.8 billion (or $1,685 per employee) each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
52%
Work performance improvement
Regular physical activity can improve an employee’s work performance by up to 52%. Moreover, people who cycle take 32% fewer sick days. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services.
~ $1,500
in extra cost annually due to overweight employees
A study of nearly 200,000 General Motors employees found that overweight and obese individuals — 2 out of 3 adults — average up to $1,500 more in annual medical costs than healthy-weight individuals.
Unfortunately, it’s clear that modern work and life — we sit in a car so we can sit at a desk all day — is a huge threat to employee health.
don’t engage in enough activity
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 60 to 85% of the population worldwide don’t engage in enough activity, making physical inactivity the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality.
of U.S. adults are considered obese
Nearly 40% of U.S. adults are considered obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
What’s less clear is what we should do. Experts are conflicted on the types of health benefits employers should offer, and there’s debate on whether wellness programs are effective in the first place. Some even argue that workplace initiatives do more harm than good by shifting healthcare costs to vulnerable employee groups; instigating unneeded treatments; and causing undue panic about job security.
We saw a wellness initiative backfire last year in West Virginia, when a teacher’s strike erupted partially because a new program penalized those who failed to get enough steps, sleep, or exercise with a $500 deductible hike. The state soon abandoned the program.
But there have also been huge success stories: Paul Terpeluk, medical director of employee-health services at Cleveland Clinic, told the Wall Street Journal that he only started to see results three years into the clinic’s wellness program. But since launch in 2009, Terpeluk says the program has saved the company $668 million and seen a decrease in sick leave, with no loss to employee benefits.
Okay, so we know there are countless approaches (and potential pitfalls) to workplace wellness, but, for a moment, let’s go back to that car — the one we spend 7% of our lives in. What if instead of driving to work and then later driving home, employees were to hop on a bike? Commuting by bike, even if only for a day or two a week can make a significant contribution to wellness.
Consider the below case studies where employers are incentivizing their employees to bike or make trackable improvements to their health.
QBP, the bicycle parts retailer based in the Twin Cities pays employees $3 for every day they commute by bike. As a result, company health care premiums went down by about 4%, while the national average spiked by roughly 25% in the same timeframe. The company estimated that it saved $200,000 in claims per 100 employees, compared with $45,000 paid out in commuting rewards. That’s a $155,000 net gain per 100 employees.
Additionally, 2010 data shows bike commuters’ claims were two-thirds less than their car driving coworkers. And, QBP’s health insurer estimated that the program prevented the equivalent of over $300,000 in lost productivity.
When a 41-year-old Trek employee suddenly died in his sleep, the company adopted a “tough love” policy when it came to health coverage: Trek made contributions to employees’ and spouses’ insurance premiums dependent on their taking health risk assessments (HRAs) and undergoing biometric screenings. It’s not surprising that nearly all Trek employees participated.
At Trek, employees had to earn up to 1,000 “Wellness Points” by completing preventive exams, health screenings, health coaching, nutrition counseling or fitness activities. Employees are placed into a low, moderate or high risk level and assigned a points value based on their results. Those who scored 750 points or above maintained the current Trek premium contribution; those who scored below 750 paid an additional $1,800 annually.
The results were clear: Employees had decreases in health risks, treatment costs for major diseases and absences. Employees’ average biometric scores rose too — from 772 in 2009 to 863 in 2014.
Group Health Cooperative, a nonprofit health care system in the Pacific Northwest, implemented a Wellness Program that encouraged employees to increase their physical activity. Group Health used posters, newsletters, health fairs, and site captains to promote the program. Employees set goals, performed self-monitoring, and responded to incentives and gamification strategies.
The results: The program was offered to 3624 employees. Of that group 1167 (32%) enrolled; and of those enrolled 565 employees (48%) completed all three surveys. At 10 weeks, all physical activity measures increased significantly. The proportion of employees meeting the guideline of the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention for physical activity increased from 34% to 48%.
At the six month follow-up, the frequency of exercising enough to work up a sweat remained significantly increased, but other measures of physical activity declined toward baseline.
So, we know increases in health and wellness of our population is generally good. But how do we design a program that’s 1) Effective 2) Sensitive to employee concerns, like data privacy, and 3) Focused on bike commuting or increasing employees’ physical activity? Here are some things to think about:
While we don’t recommend the mandatory Trek approach to employee health and wellness, offering a discount on employees insurance premiums in exchange for tracking bike commutes would likely incentivize more employees to ride. Think about what makes the most sense for your specific culture and population, taking special care to ensure vulnerable employee groups aren’t penalized.
Many third party apps or wellness program providers sell aggregated data to advertisers. There is also concern that they may share individual results with an employee’s employers. You should avoid these outcomes in order to protect privacy of your employees
In order to be eligible for the reward, employees should track their bike rides. There are many platforms that offer tracking, but we’re partial to Love To Ride for its easy-to-use interface and bike focus. A central administrator can audit on a regular basis to determine who’s eligible for the reward.
If you pay employees to ride their bike, there may be tax implications. Work with your tax expert to sort those out before launching a new program.
Determine what employees will get for meeting the program requirements. This can be anything from health insurance discounts to padding their paychecks.
Need help deciding which bike perks or incentives work for your employees? Bikes Make Life Better can help! They’ve developed and implemented incentive programs for Facebook, LinkedIn, Stanford Research Park and many others.
Motivating Stanford Research Park Employees to Bike Commute
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