Yesterday, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued its final rule discussing the interaction of employee wellness programs, the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (“GINA”). The EEOC’s press release can be found here: EEOC Press Release on Wellness Programs
Wellness programs provide a compliance dilemma for employers. Generally, those programs are a good thing, because they encourage better health and lifestyle choices for employees. Nevertheless, the ADA and GINA both generally prohibit employers from obtaining and using information about employees’ health conditions. Both acts contain exceptions that allow employers to ask health-related questions as part of a voluntary wellness program.
But, if an employer offers a financial incentive to employees to join a wellness program, is the program “voluntary”? The EEOC’s final rule permits employers to ask health-related questions and also offer employees incentives of up to 30 percent of the total cost of self-only coverage. The rule also implements notice requirements to employees and limitations on the amount of information sharing between the programs and employers.
The new rule goes into effect in 2017. If you sponsor an employee wellness program, carefully review the new rule to ensure compliance.