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Wellness programs encourage employees to adopt or maintain healthy lifestyles—or at least take the first steps toward learning about healthy alternatives. Choosing healthier alternatives to reduce cholesterol levels, for example, may reduce an employee’s chances of suffering from heart disease. But wellness programs must be carefully crafted. For example, a wellness program that offers financial incentives to employees who walk a certain number of miles per week may discriminate against employees whose disabilities preclude them from reaching the target number. When developing a program, therefore, employers must be aware of the legal requirements that may impact their decisions. When you’re designing your wellness program, be aware of the requirements of:
The Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires employers to offer a reasonable accommodation to an employee with a known disability, and it prohibits employers from making medical inquiries or requiring medical examinations (unless job-related and consistent with business necessity). It’s also unlawful under the ADA to take any adverse employment action based on an individual’s actual or perceived disability.
Learn how OSHA’s revised rule applies to your organization by joining us on Tuesday, May 12, for our webinar, OSHA’s Revised Rule for Electric Power Employers and Contractors: How to Adapt Fall Protection and PPE Programs to Comply.
Here’s a Healthy Solution: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has offered employers some guidance with regard to the ADA’s restrictions on medical inquiries and examinations. Under the guidelines, an employer may conduct medical examinations and activities that are part of a voluntary wellness and health screening program. Therefore, offering employees the opportunity to voluntarily participate in health screening programs for high blood pressure and cholesterol monitoring are not likely to violate the ADA, as long as there is no penalty (economic or otherwise) for not participating. Employers must treat any information acquired as a confidential medical record.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) makes it illegal for group health plans to base eligibility on:
- Health status
- Medical condition (including physical and mental illnesses)
- Claims experience
- Receipt of health care
- Medical history
- Genetic information
- Evidence of insurability (including conditions arising out of domestic violence)
- Disability
Register now to prepare for compliance with new standards for fall protection, personal protective clothing, hazard training for employees, sharing of safety information between host and contract workers, and more.
Here’s a Healthy Solution: Under HIPAA’s provisions, a group health plan can’t require an individual to pay a greater premium on the basis of any “health status-related factor.” However, adopting a wellness program that offers incentives for behavior, rather than health status, would likely be in compliance with the law. Group health insurance plans are permitted to provide discounts on premiums, or to adjust copayments or deductibles for employees who participate in a “bona fide wellness program.”
Tomorrow, we’ll look at how the National Labor Relations Act and state laws protecting off-duty conduct can affect the design of your wellness program.