The use of incentives by businesses is a well-accepted pattern of management-employee collaboration. Increasingly, U.S. businesses are using incentives to encourage employees to stay healthy. Research in the field of behavior modification indicates that positive reinforcement, negative consequences and restrictions, and feedback have great…

As is the case with other worksite wellness programs, company-sponsored nutrition programs have been expanding both in numbers and in depth. Besides offering a convenient health-enhancing benefit to employees, worksite nutrition programs benefit business by preventing several costly nutrition-related health problems, enhancing employees' overall…

Company-sponsored wellness programs are particularly important for older employees inasmuch as they are at greater risk of disease and disability than are their younger counterparts and their health care and health insurance costs are generally higher. As the cost of retirement benefits rises, wellness programs for retirees are becoming…

This publication presents the efforts and results of leading large employers to improve the health of mothers and children. Section 1 profiles the pioneering efforts and innovative practices of seven large employers and one business group: Haggar Clothing Co.; Honeywell Inc.; Los Angeles Department of Water and Power; Monfort, Inc.; First Chicago…

When employees develop cancer, businesses bear not only the direct medical costs of the disease, but also the indirect costs associated with lost work time, disability payments, loss of a trained employee, and retraining. Research has confirmed that aggressive prevention and screening programs can be, and indeed are, effective in limiting the…

Because sedentary living creates health consequences that ultimately affect employees' productivity, many companies are sponsoring worksite physical fitness programs for their employees. The cost-effectiveness of such programs and the resulting reduction in employees' absenteeism rates and medical and health care costs have been well documented.…