Full-time employees in the U.S. work approximately 1,700 hours per year. With so much time spent at the daily grind, healthy habits can often fall by the wayside. To combat this, more than 90% of large employers and 73% of small employers sponsor wellness initiatives in the workplace.
For many employers, these programs promise savings in the face of rising heath care costs, and for their employees, the opportunity to start or maintain healthy behaviors such as working out, getting flu shots and screening for high blood pressure.
Encouraging healthy behaviors while also driving down costs sounds like an easy win for all involved, but not everyone is on board with the idea. Critics believe these programs are costly, put employee privacy at risk and discriminate against employees if they cannot — or do not — participate.
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