Participatory Workplace Wellness Programs: Reward, Penalty, and Regulatory Conflict

Workplace wellness programs have the potential to improve workers’ health and reduce health care costs. Providing incentives for participating workers to complete a health risk assessment is a common feature of these programs. But legal and ethical concerns emerge when employers use incentives that raise questions about the voluntariness of such programs, according to a new study in the June 2015 issue of The Milbank Quarterly.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently published draft rules to address some of these concerns by setting a limit on the financial penalties that may be assessed for participatory programs. However, other legal options are available and additional ethical issues remain, argues study author Jennifer Pomeranz of the College of Public Health, Temple University. This article is particularly timely in light of the commission’s new draft rules.