| Employers are jumping on the bandwagon that | | | | employees healthier and yes, happier. How do |
| says good employee health means good | | | | they do this? |
| employee performance. One of the facets of | | | | First, employees' fitness levels are assessed and |
| good employee health is having a good exercise | | | | evaluated through surveys given by the company. |
| program. To that end, many employers are now | | | | Then, fitness programs are designed for each |
| actually endorsing corporate fitness programs as | | | | employee. Some companies have opted to |
| a means to both drive down health care costs | | | | construct in-house fitness centers or gyms, so |
| and improve employee health overall. | | | | that employees can easily access these services |
| Simply put, employers have realized that when | | | | during lunch breaks and so on. Others have opted |
| employees are fit and healthy in both mind and | | | | to give employees corporate memberships at |
| body, they can better deal with stress and | | | | nearby fitness clubs so that it's easy to go work |
| perform better at work, too. If an employees job | | | | out during lunch, on the way to or on the way |
| is mostly physical in nature, of course fitness | | | | home from work. |
| must also be of central concern to keep an | | | | Group exercises can be fun, too |
| employee healthy and on the job, uninjured. | | | | In some cases, employers have also set up |
| Sick and out of shape? | | | | classes for employees who work out together, |
| If employees are sick or out of shape, they are | | | | such as aerobic exercise classes or spinning |
| more susceptible to injury, and they need more | | | | classes, for example. In some cases, classes for |
| sick days. By contrast, if fitness programs are | | | | pregnant women are also included. Families, too, |
| incorporated as part of a workday regime, | | | | can sometimes be included in the corporate |
| workers are more productive, and less likely to | | | | fitness program so that health care is all |
| take sick days or be absent because of injury or | | | | encompassing, not just related to the employee |
| illness. Finally, this is also of benefit to employers | | | | him- or herself. |
| not just in productivity (which of course increases | | | | Diet matters, too |
| their profits); it also literally drives down costs, | | | | Because employees, too, are increasingly |
| because health costs drop when employees are | | | | overweight (along with the rest of the country), |
| fit. | | | | nutritional plans to are often designed for |
| To that end, many employees now incorporate | | | | employees so that they can lose weight more |
| corporate fitness programs to make their | | | | easily if they need to. |