Corporate Services

The Wellness of Your Employees and Your Company.
Helping You Look Better, Helping You Feel Better, Helping You Live Better

WHAT is Worksite Wellness? The concerns of American corporations and businesses over their employee's health and wellness is growing extensively. Businesses with a consistent, steadfast wellness program in place experience less absenteeism, improved morale and productivity, reduced safety and health risks, and less medical and health-related costs. The integrated management of risks and results directly relates health program investment to a company's overall gain in productivity and profitability.

What is the big deal? What do unhealthy employees really cost the company?

Direct Costs – outpatient care, pharmacy charges, inpatient care and emergency room visits.

Indirect Costs - short-term disability, workers' compensation, short-term disability, workers' compensation, turnover rates, absenteeism and presenteeismturnover rates, absenteeism and presenteeism.

What's the Risk?

Impact of an unhealthy workplace on employees
Adapted from Health Canada, Dr. Martin Shain

The Link Companies need to understand the direct link between individual health risk and the health costs to their company. The majority (by some estimates 50-70%) of healthcare costs are driven by high-risk behaviors and unhealthy lifestyles of employees, generally in four main areas.

1. Weight
   • Obesity costs a company with 1,000 employees $285,000/year, 30% of which is from missed workdays, according to Businessweek.
   • A Duke University Medical Center analysis found that obese workers filed twice the number of workers' compensation claims, had seven times higher medical costs from those claims and lost 13 times more days of work from work injury or work illness.
   • Obesity related medical costs for NC adults (18+) (In $ Billions) Individuals who are obese have annual medical costs 37.4% higher than their healthy weight counterparts, representing an additional $732 per obese person, per year.
   • NC Ranks #36, according to the United Health Foundation's “America's Health Rankings 2008” study, North Carolina ranked as number 36. Challenges include a high prevalence of smoking at 22.9% of the population, a high prevalence of obesity at 28.% (up from 26.6% in 2007), and a high infant mortality rate at 8.5 deaths per 1,000 live births.
2. Tobacco Use
• Smokers are nearly six times more likely than non-smokers to suffer disability or retire early.4
• In the U.S., smokers cost $1,700/year extra in medical bills for employers, according to the Center for Disease Control.
• Added together with absenteeism and regular smoke breaks, the annual cost jumps to $3,400 per worker. (CDC)
3. Blood Pressure
4. Cholesterol

Lost productivity due to presenteeism was significantly greater from days at work while sick (72%) compared to absenteeism due to illness (28%).2 Also, presenteeism related to depression can generate up to 30 times more lost productivity than absenteeism.

Why the Workplace? The workplace is an ideal place for health promotion programs for multiple reasons7:

• Captive Audience - Employees spend more than half of their waking hours at work. This makes them a captive audience for any health-related messages or programs. Employees are also more likely to get involved in programs at work so that it doesn't take any more time away from their home and outside lives.
• Higher Participation - Incentive programs have shown to bring a much higher participation in health programs for employees than companies with no incentives. Even a small incentive, such as a gift card or reward, may be just enough to encourage some employees to take that extra step towards getting well.
• Customizable to your company - Existing company systems and programs can help facilitate and progress health programs within the workplace. Programs can be customized to incorporate the current communication and information systems with which employees are already familiar.
• Current Communication Systems Can Be Utilized - The company workforce camaraderie and atmosphere can make employees achieve more personal health success and goal-attainment. Whether it be through teamwork or a little friendly competition, employee participation and consistency will be higher in a group atmosphere versus individual attempts.
• Camraderie and Atmosphere - Wellness programs at work encourage employees to take charge of their own health, making them prime candidates for consumer-driven approaches to health-care, such as health savings accounts.

“A healthier workplace is a happier and more productive workforce at work, at home, and in retirement. It's that simple.” - Bill Bunn, VP of Health, Safety and Productivity, International Truck and Engine Corporation

What does prevention offer employers?

Overall, worksite health promotion can improve a company's productivity by:

• Attracting superlative workers in a competitive global marketplace
• Reducing absenteeism/lost time
• Improving on-the-job decision-making and time utilization (reduced “presenteeism”)
• Improving employee morale and fostering stronger organizational commitments
• Reducing organizational conflict by building a reservoir of good-will toward management
• Reducing employee turnover

“One of the best ways to attract and retain the best people in the world is to provide a set of benefits and rewards that are particularly appropriate for the people you are trying to attract.” - Glenn Gienko, Executive VP and Director of Human Resources, Motorola

Worksite health promotion programs also benefit employees (including managers) by:

• Improving their physical strength, stamina, and general wellbeing
• Improving their focus at work
• Increasing job satisfaction and fostering a positive outlook on life
• Bettering relations with co-workers and supervisors

What's The Bottom Line? Investing in health promotion within your company is an investment in human capital.

Many small employers think that only large corporations can afford to sponsor worksite health promotion activities or participate in community-wide health promotion campaigns that benefit both their employees (past, present, and future) and their corporate image.

Healthy Workforce Act (S.803;H.R.1897) - A tax credit will be available to all employers, including for profit, not for profit, and state and local governments, for 50% of the cost of a qualified employer health promotion program. The credit can be up to $200/employee for the first 200 employees and $100/employee for remaining employees.

For about the cost of a holiday party at year's end, or the installation of new carpet, small businesses can offer low-cost employee benefits or support broader health promotion efforts that can pay big dividends to companies, employees, and the community-at-large.

ONE-STOP SHOP Next Level Performance is your company's one-stop shop for all of it's health promotion needs.

• Worksite Assessment
• Employee Interests Surveys
• Full Health Assessments (Including health testing, such as glucose, cholesterol, blood pressure, etc.)
• Personal Training
• Group Fitness Classes
• Certified Nutrition Counseling
• Lunch & Learns
• On and Off Site Massage Therapy
• OSHA Compliance Training
• CPR/First Aid/AED for Adults, Children, and Infants Training
• Health and Wellness Fairs
• Fitness Facility Membership Discounts
• On-Site Wellness Coordinator if needed
• Psychological/Emotional Support
• Specific Behavior Modification Programs (i.e. smoking cessation, etc.)
• Financial Education & Planning Programs
• And Much More!

Request information about customizing a PR to your company's needs.

At Next Level Performance, we also have a vast network of partnering businesses to offer a multitude of health services for your employees, to include:

• Physical Therapy
• Chiropractic Care
• Personal Chef
• Athletic and Running Gear
• Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• Children's Health and Fitness Classes
• Dentistry and Orthodontics

OSHA Compliance - We offer classes on multiple topics that fall into the area of OSHA compliance, to include; (1.) American Heart Association Certification in First Aid, CPR, and AED for Adults, Children, and Infants & (2.) Bloodborne Pathogens, Hazard Communications, Forklift Safety, Effective Safety Committee, and More! Email us for a quote today.