INTRODUCTION
Health and wellness in the workplace is crucial to business success. Increasingly, it is recognized that the workplace itself has a powerful affect on people’s health. When people are satisfied with their job, they are more productive and tend to be healthier. When employees feel that the environment at work is negative, they feel stressed. Stress has a large impact on employee mental and physical health, and in turn, on productivity. Companies that promote healthy lifestyle habits for employees to improve their health, often take the success of the company to heart and are likely to be absent less often for health related reasons.
Employers are now offering a wide range of wellness initiatives; such as health risk screenings and assessments, healthy food choices in cafeterias and vending machines; weigh management programs on-site at employers' expense, subsidized or discounted off-site fitness courses, smoking cessation programs, on-site massage therapy and health fairs. This research paper will focus on the physical impact that unhealthy or healthy workplaces have on employees and the different programs to promote long-term wellness. There can be several benefits received as a result of a wellness program.
A workplace wellness initiative can help a company to:
• attract and keep employees;
• reduce the costs of disability, drugs, and absenteeism;
• reduce the effects of a stressful workplace;
• reduce health costs or keep them contained; and
• improve morale by creating a happy, supportive environment.
Employees of companies that have a workplace wellness program are likely to have:
• increased awareness and knowledge of ways to improve their health;
• a better (less stressful) workplace;
• increased protection from injury;
• improved health and well-being;
• higher morale and greater job satisfaction;
• increased