Workplace health and wellness programs are becoming a common employee benefit in the United States. Most recently, the RANDWorkplace Wellness Programs Studyfound about half of employers with at least 50 employees, and more than 90 percent of those with more than 50,000 employees, offered a wellness program in 2012.¹ In addition, a 2011 Aon Hewitt employer survey found that nearly 47 percent of employers without a wellness program planned to add one in the next three to five years.²

Wellness programs commonly screen employees—and, at times, dependents—for health risks through health risk assessment (HRA) surveys and...

Workplace health and wellness programs are becoming a common employee benefit in the United States.⁹ Most recently, the RAND Workplace Wellness Programs Study found about half of employers with at least 50 employees—and more than 90 percent of those with more than 50,000 employees—offered a wellness program in 2012.¹⁰ In addition, a 2011 Aon Hewitt employer survey found that nearly 47 percent of employers without a wellness program planned to add one in the next three to five years.¹¹

Wellness programs screen employees—and, at times, dependents—to identify health risks, provide interventions to address health risks and...

This chapter expands on the RANDWorkplace Wellness Programs Study,¹³ which provided descriptive information about workplace wellness programs in the United States. The detailed description of the RAND Employer Survey, such as sample selection, instrument development, analytic weights and the key variables (i.e., incentive types, relevant covariates) are defined in the 2013 report and form the foundation of the analysis presented in this chapter.

The primary objective of this additional analysis of the survey is to deepen the knowledge base surrounding an employer’s decision to offer a workplace wellness program, how these programs are structured, and the types of employee...

Achieving the goals of any wellness program requires employee participation. The RAND Workplace Wellness Programs Study found average participation rates ranged from 20 to 40 percent, underscoring the challenge of program uptake.³⁰ Adding to the problem of low employee uptake is the fact that the decision to participate is not random. For example, the motivation to improve or maintain health drives both the decision to participate in a wellness program and other behaviors associated with improved health status. While some studies have conducted limited analyses of who participates in wellness programs, we still know little about the relationship between various...

The findings in this report underscore the increasing prevalence of worksite wellness programs. About four-fifths of all U.S. employers with more than 1,000 employees are estimated to offer the programs. For those larger employers, program offerings cover a range of screening activities, interventions to encourage healthy lifestyles, and support for employees with manifest chronic conditions.

Smaller employers, especially those with fewer than 100 employees, appear more reserved in their implementation of wellness programs. They are less likely to offer any program, have typically limited program offerings, and voice concerns about the business rationale.

In spite of widespread access, the actual...