Helping With Healthy Resolutions

We’re a few months in from all those New Year’s resolutions we made to be healthier, and, let’s face it, the commitment for some of us is already waning. But employers are here to help, at least in part because healthier employees translate into lower health insurance costs. Many do so with subsidized gym memberships, standing desks and healthier snacks, Employee Assistance Programs and onsite flu shots, health fairs and chair massages. For ideas to help employees keep healthy and motivated, we turned to the 2015 winners of the Best Companies to Work For in NH.

Eat Your Fruits and Veggies
Mom was right. You need to eat your fruits and vegetables. And some companies have taken steps to make it easier or more affordable.

CCA Global in Manchester participates in a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), which delivers boxes of fresh produce weekly during the summer.

All W.S. Badger employees get daily free organic lunch prepared onsite. All ingredients are local and in-season, including from Badger’s garden.

Merchants Fleet Management in Manchester has a produce program that reimburses employees for fruits and vegetables they buy just by submitting store receipts.

Wire Belt Company of America in Londonderry created a Wire Belt garden onsite with plots for employees and their family who would like to grow something but live in an urban area without land.

Time Off for Health
Companies like Dyn in Manchester (a former Hall of Fame winner of Best Companies) and International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) in Portsmouth have done away with paid time off packages.

Employees instead take the time they need, whether it’s for vacation, doctor’s visits or sick time. Digital Prospectors in Exeter gives employees 90-minute lunches to work out, shower and eat.

W.S. Badger offers health days instead of sick days. Employees who work at least 35 hours a week get five health days annually.

Beyond the Usual Coverage
Compass Therapeutics in Lebanon covers the cost of acupuncture, bariatric surgery, chiropractic care and hearing aids. Parker Hannifin Corporation in Hollis lets employees and their families use alternative medicine, such as acupuncture and therapeutic massage as part of medical coverage.  

Medtronic Advanced Energy in Portsmouth provides full-time employees, as well as part-time employees who work at least 20 hours per week, up to 40 hours of paid time off to donate bone marrow. Employees at Wire Belt Company of America receive an additional four hours off for cancer screenings annually.

Health Incentives
Digital Prospectors Corp. gives employees a monthly health and wellness allowance of $125 for gym memberships and other exercise programs.

W.S. Badger employees and their immediate family members are reimbursed $800 annually for expenses related to general health and wellness activities, fitness equipment, active-wear clothing and gym memberships.

Merchants Fleet Management offers employees wellness bucks for participating in wellness programs. These can be exchanged for many things including gift certificates, gas cards and up to two days of paid time off annually. The company also reimburses up to $200 annually for gym memberships and smoking cessation aids.

Bring Exercise Onsite
Let’s face it, the easier it is, the fewer excuses we have. And it’s not just huge corporations that are investing in onsite gyms. When Loftware, which has just over 100 employees, built its new Portsmouth facility, it included a fitness room and showers.

Bellwether Community Credit Union, based in Manchester, has onsite fitness facilities for the 82 employees at all four of its locations.

Onsite yoga is offered at both International Association of Privacy Professionals and  at CCA Global, where the cost is split between employees and the company. CCA Global also sponsors a free Weight Watchers group periodically.

Wellness Programs
Many businesses offer wellness programs, each with a unique approach. Merchants Fleet Management partners with an online vendor to provide exercise challenges on a monthly basis, unlimited access to health coaching and smoking cessation programs, among other things.

CCA Global offers employees the Live Well Be Well program. The web portal has health tools such as risk assessments, physical activity trackers and biometric screenings. Participation is voluntary and allows employees to earn points towards a reduction in medical premiums or other incentive if not enrolled in CCA’s medical plan.