In an era of rising health care costs and fierce competition, employers have a vested interest in the health of their employees.  Research has found that, on average, employees with healthy behaviors (such as not smoking or being active for 30 minutes a day) incur lower health care expenses, [1,2] are absent from work less often, and are more productive when at work (higher presenteeism) than employees with unhealthy behaviors [3].

The workplace environment is a powerful, but often overlooked, component in managing employee health.  This web site identifies the best-practices in creating a workplace environment and culture that support your organization’s employee health strategy and allows employees to take charge of their own health.  For example, a tobacco-free workplace policy increases the likelihood that employees will try to quit smoking and will quit smoking successfully [4,5]. Similarly, discounting healthy foods in your cafeteria and vending machines helps increase employees’ consumption of healthy foods [6] which supports your investment in disease management programs for employees with diabetes, heart disease or hypertension. This section of the web site guides you through the ten key steps in creating a workplace environment that promotes employee health.

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