Exploring Health and Wellness Program Types. Incentive and Reward Program Series I

Many employers seek to foster a healthy, productive workplace using a health and wellness incentive program. These incentive programs have proved to be highly effective in creating a healthier workplace and boosting employee morale. An important part of any health and wellness rewards program is navigating the laws and regulations that are applicable to your particular program and whether or not there is a need to apply technology for the reward incentive management and the help of an incentive provider for the management and distribution of the program.

Employers usually choose one of four main types of health and wellness programs when creating their incentive programs. Each program has different features, legal requirements and to keep in mind. In our health and wellness compliance blog series we will explore each of these four main program types.  In this first blog of our series, we will be discussing Type 1 Programs: General Educational or Participatory & not Health Plan-Related Incentive Program.

Programs that fall under Type 1 focus on educating their employees or offering participation-based programs that are not part of the company’s health care plan. An important thing with these programs is that they are voluntary in nature. These programs either offer no reward, or they offer a reward that is based on activities that are unrelated to the company’s health care plan. Although general in nature, both the education and participatory elements of this plan serve to effectively encourage employees to engage in healthier lifestyles and help them to become more productive.

Education elements of the program could include things like “Balanced meal” posters, pamphlets on stress reduction, or educational lunch classes. With participatory programs, rewards can be given for a variety of activities, such as attending smoking cessation classes, going to educational lectures, completing health risk questionnaires, and joining gyms or fitness clubs. Rewards could include things like gift cards, loyalty cards, branded company merchandise, or reimbursement of some of the costs of gym or fitness club memberships.

To qualify as a type 1 program, rewards must be available to all employees, not just those eligible for the company’s health care plan.

Type 1 health and wellness programs have the fewest number of applicable federal employment and benefit regulations of any of the health and wellness program types. The main laws that are applicable to a type 1 program are ADEA, Title VII, FLSA, & Tax Laws. ADA and GINA may also be applicable under certain circumstances. If you would like to learn more about the legal requirements for a Type 1 health and wellness program, you can read our article – Is Your Health and Wellness Incentive Program Compliant?

If you are interested in taking the next steps with your company’s health and wellness incentive program, our experts at All Digital Rewards would love to talk with you and answer any questions you may have about health and wellness rewards programs. We offer a variety of programs that can be custom branded and tailored to fit your business’s needs. All Digital Rewards understands your commitment to your participant’s health and wellness and are experts in addressing the concerns and requirements associated with establishing an outstanding health and wellness rewards program. Our Healthy Choice Rewards, Live Well Reward ™ card, and robust Health and Wellness point’s based platform technology all of which can be fully branded and personalized, will allow you to quickly and effectively reward the participants in your company’s health and wellness program. With our immense experience in offering rewards programs, we can help you create the ideal health and wellness program for your company and meet all applicable legal requirements. Give our Health and Wellness Reward Program experts a call at 866-415-7703 or click the “Schedule a Demo” button below!