It’s a given that a healthier workforce is a more productive workforce. With this in mind, employers have looked to wellness programs to improve performance and save money on healthcare costs. In theory, such programs are a win-win: Employers get bottom-line results and employees gain improved well-being and fitness – not to mention relief from out-of-pocket medical expenses. But sometimes improving wellness is a tricky proposition.

Methods for developing employee buy-in to workplace wellness programs run the gamut from offering incentives such as discounted healthcare premiums to giving cash rewards for quitting smoking or using the gym. Positive reinforcement is one thing, but imposing higher premiums on smokers or obese employees — which might seem like a fair strategy to employers — can be a morale killer when perceived as a harsh penalty. Moreover, such practices might violate rules set by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). In order to stay out of hot water, “Wellness programs must be carefully structured to comply with a patchwork of state and federal laws that may apply depending on the nature of the program,” cautions employee benefits attorney Joseph P. Lazzarotti of Jackson Lewis LLP (Lazzarotti, 2006).

Early in 2008, the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) published a checklist that spells out new regulations regarding wellness programs. The rules address wellness programs that offer employees discounts on higher deductible healthcare plans through two avenues: simply participating in a wellness program and/or achieving specific health goals such as weight loss or lower blood pressure (“Final,” 2007). By enrolling in such workplace wellness programs, employees usually become, in effect, covered by a form of supplemental health insurance. But the EBSA guidelines say that employees with documented health problems that affect their ability to participate in such programs cannot in some cases be penalized by higher deductibles (Knight, 2008)...

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