Would You Lose Weight If You Could Get Paid For It?

Losing weight doesn’t just look after your own wellbeing; companies are starting to realise that they will financially benefit from healthier employees too, and are forking out for your wellness. By offering employees money as an incentive, businesses are hoping that workers will lose weight and lower their health risks, which will save the company time and money spent on care.

According to the CEO of wellness programme HealthyWage.com, David Roddenberry, ‘Weight loss is more fun and more successful if you offer individuals cash’, and though it seems counter-intuitive, schemes like this could save your business from reduced productivity and the rising costs associated with health insurance. Also, weight loss programmes engage your workers and cultivate team building across the organisation.

However, there are other programmes, like one where the employees themselves put up the cash, for example, as Rodenberry says ‘People are motivated if they’re putting down their own money and losing their own money’. HealthyWage’s BMI Challenge pays $1,000 to people who invest $300 to participate and manage to go from obesity a normal BMI in 12 months. Without investing, your employees could still earn $100 for getting to a normal BMI, and HealthyWage claim that a quarter of those who commit their own money win the $1,000 at the end of the challenge.

There is also the $10,000 team weight loss competition, when participants pay $75 to register, and teams of five compete for the greatest percentage of weight loss over a three-month period. However, this is limited to 16.59% of the starting body weight, so as to discourage extreme dieting or other unhealthy tactics. Teams from different companies can also compete against each other for this challenge, which HealthyWage says has helped participants to lose an average of 4.6% body weight, with over 40% of participants shedding more than 5% of their body weight.

Finally, there is also the 10% Challenge programme for individuals, which allows your workers to bet and profit on weight loss. Participants bet $150 that they can lose 10% of their starting body weight, and stand to win $300 if they achieve this. They say that weight loss requires a lot of self-belief and determination, so maybe you should put your money where your mouth is.