Voluntariness Required for Wellness Programs

A letter from the EEOC expands on whether financial incentives can be used for wellness programs and offers guidance on the way such programs are treated under the ADA and GINA. By Frank Ferreri, cyberFEDS Legal Editor Wellness programs may give organizations a way to provide an employee benefit while keeping healthcare costs down, but HR leaders should think carefully about offering financial incentives. While such a practice is acceptable in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's view, the EEOC's Peggy R. Mastroianni recently emphasized in an informal-discussion letter that such programs have to be voluntary. Mastroianni's letter responds to a request for guidance on how wellness programs are treated under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. In the letter, Mastroianni explains that ADA Title I allows employers to conduct voluntary medical examinations and activities, including obtaining medical-history information, as part of an employee-wellness program as long as the information is kept confidential and separate from personnel records. Citing the EEOC Enforcement Guidance on Disability-Related Inquiries and Medical Examinations under the ADA (2002), Mastroianni explains that a wellness program is voluntary as long as the organization neither requires participation nor penalizes employees who do not participate. The EEOC has not taken a position, she writes, on whether ADA Title I permits organizations to offer financial incentives for employees to participate in wellness programs, writing that we will carefully consider your comments and the comments of other stakeholders that we have received on this important issue. GINA and Financial Incentives Under GINA Title II, Mastroianni explains, organizations are prohibited from requesting, requiring, or purchasing genetic information about employees. However, an exception to this rule allows agencies to acquire genetic information about an employee or her family members when it offers health or genetic services, including wellness programs, on a voluntary basis. When this happens, the individual receiving services must give prior voluntary, knowing, and written authorization. While organizations are not allowed to offer financial inducements to individuals to provide genetic information, they can offer incentives for participation or for achieving certain health outcomes. Under these circumstances, the program must also be open to employees with current health conditions and/or to individuals whose life style choices put them at increased risk of developing a condition, writes Mastroianni. Additionally, the organization may only receive information in aggregate terms that do not disclose the identity of the individual receiving services. Relationship to GINA Title I In the letter, Mastroianni also addresses a question about employees who voluntarily disclose a family medical history of diabetes, heart disease or high blood pressure on a health-risk assessment and employees who have a current diagnosis of one of these conditions. According to the EEOC, an organization does not violate GINA by offering such employees $150 to participate in a wellness program designed to encourage weight loss and a healthy lifestyle. When challenged that this practice is inconsistent with GINA Title I regulations, Mastroianni responds that the EEOC is not in a position to offer an interpretation of GINA Title I since it is enforced by other agencies. However, Mastroianni continued, our goal in formulating the position on wellness program incentives and the examples in our Title II regulations was to be consistent with the positions taken by the Title I agencies. 管理新知 您可能感兴趣的文章 HR在落实最低工资标准 这8个误区不可踩！

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