4 wellness trends in the workplace

1. Embracing a more holistic idea of workplace wellness

Organizations are extending their workplace wellness efforts beyond the traditional programming that focuses on making behavioral changes, such as eating better and getting enough exercise.

Today, aspects of company operations like management and leadership styles, working conditions and how they apply to employee wellness are all being examined, said Barbara Zabawa, president of the Center for Health and Wellness Law LLC, a legal consulting firm located in Kansas City, Kan.

Zabawa hopes this scrutiny will put more emphasis on ways in which companies can work with policymakers to remove roadblocks to wellness, including lack of affordable housing, scarcity of grocery stores that sell nutritious food and inadequate public transport.

"We can't just tell our employees, 'Hey, you need to eat better, you need to exercise,' when they don't have the option to do that," Zabawa said.

2. Examining the link between managers and mental health

Employee wellness is heavily influenced by a worker's superior.

Organizations are increasingly assessing the role that managers play in employee mental health, said Laura Putnam, CEO of Motion Infusion, a wellness provider located in San Francisco that helps companies apply wellness best practices.

"When you engage the manager [about] their well-being and when you give them explicit tools around how they can bring that to their team, then it creates a positive impact on their team members," Putnam said.

Doing so can not only boost wellness but also increase engagement and productivity, Putnam said.

The increased emphasis on managers and mental health reflects an increased focus on employee mental health as part of wellness programs.

Organizations that recognize the importance of overall mental health are contributing to improved employee wellness, said Melissa Doman, the Denver-based author of Yes, You Can Talk About Mental Health at Work: Here's Why (And How to Do It Really Well).

Discussing mental health in the workplace can foster feelings of acceptance, belonging and inclusion, Doman said.

3. Making 'tweaks' to workplace habits

Some companies are also making small changes to everyday workplace practices that could improve employee experience.

Putnam worked with an organization where meetings were regularly scheduled during lunch. To prevent this from happening, the company created an informal policy stating that lunchtime was for having lunch, not meetings.

"That's a great example of a tiny little tweak that is more systemic and that can really make a difference in people's well-being," Putnam said.

4. Objecting to policies over tobacco use

Tobacco-related aspects of healthcare plans and wellness programs have recently come under increased scrutiny.

For example, a former worker for a trucking company, Marten Transport Ltd., recently sued the organization, saying that the extra healthcare charge for employees who use tobacco goes against antidiscrimination law and that the company does not offer an alternative that meets applicable regulations.

Other companies whose employees have filed lawsuits related to extra healthcare plan charges for using tobacco include Walmart and Whole Foods.

The law around tobacco cessation programs can be complicated, Zabawa said.

The level of detail in the law can lead to disputes between employees and employers over questions like whether an employee should be reimbursed if they quit smoking in the middle of the year.

While traditional workplace wellness programs often focus on diet, exercise, and tobacco cessation, someone's well-being is specific to that individual, Zabawa said.

For example, an employee who is responsible for caring for an aging parent might find their wellness improved by a work schedule that enables them to accompany their mother or father to regular doctors' appointments.

"There needs to be a paradigm shift on how workplaces view wellness," Zabawa said. "It's more about getting out of employees' ways so that [workers] can determine how they would define improved well-being for themselves."

Carolyn Heinze is a Paris-based freelance writer. She covers several technology and business areas, including HR software and sustainability.