Employee health is essential to a productive work force. Examples of strategies that serve as cost savers for employers and improve employee health include:

• Providing employees paid daily activity breaks
• Offering wholesome snack options in vending machines
• Serving fruits and vegetables at meetings
• Installing locker rooms and shower facilities at worksites so workers can exercise during the day
• Offering incentives to employees who bike or walk to work
• Even offering individually tailored disease management programs

Click on the headings below for expanded information on more ways to improve employee health through workplace wellness efforts.

Provide lactation accommodations in the workplace.

Develop incentives to encourage breastfeeding-friendly worksites that provide access to lactation rooms.

Provide healthy food options at worksites.

• Require safe drinking water be available in government operated facilities to encourage water consumption over sugary drinks.
• Ensure that cafeterias and vending options at local government agencies have strong nutrition standards.
• Provide incentives or subsidies for localities and government run programs that provide healthy foods at competitive prices and limit nutrient-poor calorie dense foods.

Encourage employees to be physically active.

• Develop worksite policies that build physical activity into the workday, for example walking meetings and scheduled paid exercise breaks.
• Improve stairway access and appeal in workplaces to encourage stair use over elevators.

Offer affordable health coverage options to all employees.

Provide health plan benefit options to all local agency employees that cover prevention and wellness activities and include counseling services, health education, and access to weight-loss, tobacco cessation, and physical activity programs.

Support local businesses that promote employee health.

Provide incentives for businesses to offer physical activity, healthy food options, and lactation accommodations to employees.