For years, employers have been trying to get workers on the healthy bandwagon. But you guys haven’t been cooperating. You’re still smoking. You’re still sitting on the couch and eating Yodels. And as a result, managers are taking out the big guns. If you’ve gotten incentives from your company just for signing up for a wellness program or for taking a health assessment, expect it to get harder to pocket such financial inducements, according to a survey by Towers Watson , a global professional services company, and business organization, the National Business Group on Health . Smokers actually have to stop smoking. Overweight and obese workers actually have to start shedding pounds. “Employers are frustrated by their employees’ low use of expensive health improvement programs,” said Ted Nussbaum, senior consultant at Towers Watson. “As employers continue to empower workers to be more health focused, they are beginning to target and reward those workers who demonstrate a real commitment to making positive lifestyle changes.” The survey found: * 53 percent of large employers offer financial incentives to workers who enroll in health engagement activities, such as weight management or smoking cessation programs. But, for many employers, participation alone is no longer enough to earn an incentive. * Now, more than one-third of employers (37%) reward only those workers who meet the company’s requirements for completion of a health engagement activity, and almost one-third (29%) only reward members who participate in multiple activities. * Still, most employers (93%) have no plans to eliminate their health promotion programs, and 83% have no plans to cancel or delay adding new ones

Original Source of You’re still fat and the boss isn’t happy