Topics - Corporate

Multiplier Effect: The Financial Consequences of Worker Absences

When workers take sick days, the financial impact on the company is not always related only to the specific job the sick employee performs. The impact can often ripple throughout the company, especially if the employee is part of a team whose output is time sensitive. Until recently, however, it was hard for companies to measure the impact of employee absenteeism with any hard data.
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The Company Doctor: With carrots and sticks, employers prod their workers into better health and lower premiums.

IN HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT, Tilt AMERICAN worker would lose to a band of sleepy preschoolers. Only 15% of U.S. workers exercise enough, and 40/0 don't attempt so much as. a sit-up. More than half blame work, with 8 in 10 grousing that they would hit the treadmill—really they would—if only their employers encouraged it.
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Optum Research: A Review of Cost Benefit Analysis and Report: 1979-2001

The basic finding of this review of the research literature shows that the money spent on keeping the workforce healthy is money very well spent. Research conducted over the past 21 years shows that some wellness programs do indeed produce significant savings. Still there continues to be concern that savings earned through worksite wellness programs are being outpaced by rising health care costs. As Dr. Edington says, "Worksite wellness programs have been proven to impact the bottom line in a very significant way. We at the HMRC are confident that employers will continue to invest in these programs we consider to be the new way to do health care."
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The Business Case for a Corporate Wellness Program: Case Study of General Motors

During the 1990s, the General Motors Corporation (GM) wanted to hold down rising health care costs by improving the health status of its workers and their dependents, and the United Auto Workers (UAW) made the development of a comprehensive preventive health program one of its bargaining demands. Working together, GM and UAW launched a corporate wellness program in April 1996—LifeSteps.
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