Researches show that employers are creating more and more ways to incentive healthy behavior among employees, and some companies are even penalizing some employees with risky habits, particularly smoking. Although it seems to be a nice gesture, researches show that in fact, employers are searching for a way to lower health insurance costs by having healthier employees.
Accordingly with a survey collecting information from over 500 executives and about 30.000 workers from several fields in industry, 88% of employers would like to invest in order to improve health and thus productivity from their employees. On other results, 47% of employees considered themselves as having good eating habits while 40% said to exercise at least three times a week. 88% of the interviewed also reported to be already engaging in healthier habits. On such attempt to lower insurance costs, employers reported smoking cessation, physical fitness and weight management as priorities among employees. Some specialists, however, point to some natural resistance from some workers to comply with some of the health requirements.