For some companies, it’s perfectly legal for your employer to require you to answer intrusive health questions in order to ascertain just how healthy you are, in relation to the workplace wellness schemes they’re running. Wellness programmes are a multi-billion pound industry that seems to have sprung up overnight, with over 90 per cent of all large employers reportedly offering one for their employees. It’s nice for an employer to take an interest in your health, exercise and smoking, but if the programme is badly designed it could actually be detrimental to your health. Workplace wellness, it seems, is not only a privacy hazard but also a hazard to your health and career to boot. It’s fair to say that many people may be willing to tolerate a certain level of privacy loss in favour of boosting our health, but that’s not always the case. So what are they doing to your health and lifestyle? Here are three reasons why your workplace wellness scheme could be bad for you.
Dismaying and Alienating Employees
Bad wellness programmes give the notion that your boss thinks you’re an idiot. It doesn’t boost morale and it sends your motivation plummeting. For example, some employers tell employees who smoke that tobacco isn’t healthy, sending the message that anyone who smokes hasn’t been educated enough to read the many health warnings about smoking and its risks. The reality is that public health is a complex venture and while it’s easy to condescend, good wellness programmes focus on encouraging you to make better choices. If your programme isn’t doing that, you need to question why you have it in place.
Bad Programs Don’t Save Money
Wellness marketers make claims that quite literally don’t add up, such as claiming savings exceeding 100 per cent which is a mathematical impossibility, or suggesting that an employer can save more money than they spent in the first place. There’s a compelling case that claims that bad wellness programmes don’t save money because the programmes themselves cost so much money in the first place. Add in the added cost of screenings and educations, and the other services which aren’t free either, and you have a costly venture. The benefits of a wellness programme is that it help your employees to improve their health, morale and motivation, but if it winds up costing you so much money for nothing, it really doesn’t serve the purpose you’d hope for.
Potential Harm To Employee Health
Even if wellness programmes cost a bit more money in the short run, it’s considered a given that they will improve your health in the long run. But this isn’t always the case and it could be misleading. Many of us are reluctant to question the design of a company wellness programme because it sounds like we’re challenging something we know nothing about and which sounds like something so wholesome. But in reality, these programmes don’t always focus on the things they should, such as employee performance and exercise. Poorly-designed wellness programmes can violate the very essence of good management – focusing on people’s private lives doesn’t do anyone any favours and can do more harm than good. These programmes apply equal measure of coercion and disparagement towards the people who the programme is meant to help. This simply discredits the employer benefits programmes and undermines employee loyalty and trust. If employers are going to invest in a scheme, it needs to be in promotion of the wellbeing of their employees.