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Article Summary

Are you an employer who offers your workers a voluntary "wellness" program? That's great—but you may face legal challenges if your program requires medical tests, asks medical questions, or penalizes anyone who opts not to participate. It’s an unsettled area of law: Tread carefully.

This article by TELG former principal Tom Harrington (Ret.) and TELG managing principal R. Scott Oswald was published by Corporate Law Advisory on April 27, 2015. The full article is .

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Doctors and Lawyers—Employers That Incentivize Good Health May Need to Consult Both

Is your company one of the many employers across the country that is rewarding employees for healthy habits?

Regardless of whether your company uses an incentive-based employee wellness program in order to help curb costs, to bolster workers’ health—or both, you need to ensure none of the program’s features runs afoul of applicable state and federal laws. These include the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Genetic Information Non-Disclosure Act (GINA), the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). As wellness programs gain popularity, they come under greater scrutiny by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and employment lawyers who will be monitoring whether you cross the line.