EEOC Issues Final Regulations on Wellness Programs -
It seems to be a win-win when employers who provide employees with incentives to encourage healthy behavior. But employers that do so must contend with an alphabet soup of federal law — ERISA, GINA, HIPAA, the ACA, the ADA, just to name a few. In May, the EEOC weighed in and finalized its latest guidance on how employer wellness programs should be structured. These final regulations largely adopt the proposed regulations issued in 2015.
To meet the newly finalized EEOC requirements, the program must be reasonably designed to promote health or prevent disease. Accordingly, it cannot require an overly burdensome amount of time for participation, involve unreasonably intrusive procedures, be a subterfuge for violating federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, or require employees to incur significant costs for medical examinations. For example, a program that tests employee health factors but does not follow-up with employees or provide test results generally would not meet the new requirements. A wellness program also is prohibited from having as its primary purpose the shifting of costs from the employer to targeted employees based on their health.
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