Health Promotion and Wellness

It's probably overstating the case to say that "a business is only as healthy as its employees," but not by much. After all, the wellness of workers has a big impact on everything from absenteeism rates to job performance to healthcare costs.

Personal illness, for example, was the most commonly cited reason for unplanned absences from the U.S. workplace in 2003 and 2004. And "presenteeism" — which occurs when workers report for work ill or with diminished capacity to perform on the job due to illness or chronic pain — diminishes worker productivity by about 2.5 billion days each year, according to one estimate.

Of course, the causes of health problems vary widely, from occupational hazards to disease to lifestyle-based concerns. Especially costly — and traditionally beyond the control of employers — are health issues such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes, chronic pain and depression.