17 Jan Wellness in The Corporate Workplace

Wellness in the workplace has many benefits for employers and employees. Some of these benefits include lower health care costs, reduced absenteeism, higher productivity, reduced use of health care benefits, reduced worker’s compensation and disability, reduced injuries, increased morale and loyalty, and improved employee health.

Studies repeatedly show that health promotion programs in the workplace are helping companies reduce injuries, health care costs and long-term disability. More companies than ever are introducing health and wellness strategies in the workplace to help ease the burden of the cost of care. Recent studies in Canada and the United States report that 80% of illnesses and diseases are preventable. Obesity, smoking, and other health risk factors account for 8 out of 9 leading causes of death, cardiovascular disease being the biggest killer. Of the more than 1,000,000 deaths per year in Canada and the United States, over 50% of the deaths are due to cardiovascular disease, most of which is preventable.