Healthy employees, healthy business: easy, affordable ways to promote workplace wellness

376 Pages·2009·5.06 MB·English

by  Ilona Bray

“ The single most important asset of any company is its employees.
N O L O®
Worksite wellness programs protect and enhance that asset,
and this book shows how.”
STEVEN G. ALDANA, Ph.D., CEO, WellSteps
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Employees,
Business
Healthy

Easy, Affordable Ways to
Promote Workplace Wellness
Ilona Bray Written with a
nationwide team
of experts
Free Updates at Nolo.com
Th e Story
Cofod
ma
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1st edition
Healthy Employees,
Healthy Business
Easy, Affordable Ways to
Promote Workplace Wellness
By Ilona Bray
FIRST EDITION OCTOBER 2009
Cover Design SUSAN PUTNEY
Book Design TERRI HEARSH
CD-ROM Preparation ELLEN BITTER
Proofreading SUSAN CARLSON GREENE
Index MEDEA MINNICH
Printing DELTA PRINTING SOLUTIONS, INC.

Bray, Ilona M., 1962-
Healthy employees, healthy business : easy, aff ordable ways to promote workplace wellness
/ by Ilona Bray. -- 1st ed.
p. ; cm.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4133-1074-0 (pbk.)
ISBN-10: 1-4133-1074-5 (pbk.)
1. Employee health promotion. I. Title.
[DNLM: 1. Health Promotion. 2. Occupational Health Services. 3. Preventive Health
Services. WA 412 B827h 2009]
RC969.H43B73 2009
658.3’82--dc22
2009021420
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Please note
We believe accurate, plain-English legal information should help you solve many of
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knowledgeable lawyer. If you want the help of a trained professional—and we’ll always
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to practice in your state.
Acknowledgments
I’ve been known to exaggerate (just a bit) in the interests of a
good story, but let me say that if any of what follows sounds like
hyperbole—it’s not. This book was a major team effort. It wouldn’t
have been possible without the time, effort, wisdom, and patience of
the people named here.
First, I’d like to thank our advisory board members, who
generously drew on their years of medical, workplace wellness, legal,
and life experience to make valuable contributions to this book.
Even in this age of instant information, some insights can only be
gained by talking to people who know their stuff. I appreciate the
many hours each adviser spent on the phone with me, hammering
out both overarching concepts and fine details. You’ll meet our
advisers in the coming pages—and you can hear their podcasts on
the included CD-ROM. The advisory board includes, in order of
their profiles in this book: Dr. Kenneth R. Pelletier; Rae Lee Olson;
Dr. Douglas Metz; Dr. Charles Gerba; Dr. Preston Maring; Dr.
Robert Sallis; Dr. Albert Ray; Jonathan Foulds, M.A., M.App.Sci.,
Ph.D.; Renee Brown, M.A., LMFT; Lisa Molbert; Trina Histon,
Ph.D.; Dr. Janet Greenhut; Matthew Sears, CEBS, CMS; and Kelly
Kuglitsch, Esq.
Thanks, also, to those at Kaiser Permanente who helped
conceive this project and bring the book to fruition. They include
Janet Venturino, Paul Van Voorhis, Tom Carter, Marla Kaufman,
and Melanie Fields.
Maurice Levich, Bruce Licht, and Janet Thiry of Poster
Compliance Center, in Lafayette, California, helped with initial
brainstorming and were important early proponents of the book.
A number of businesspeople and workplace wellness experts
across the United States were kind enough to share stories and ideas.
They include: Kara Parker, vice president of finance and human
resources at Buffalo Supply in Lafayette, Colorado; Patty Frett,
account executive at Frett Barrington Ltd, in Pewaukee, Wisconsin;
Theresa Islo, director of operations at the Wellness Council of
Wisconsin (in Milwaukee); Joline Woodward, assistant to the
Council of Small Business Executives at the Metropolitan Milwaukee
Association of Commerce; and Debby Tappan and Jackie Grabin, co-
presidents of Arrow Exterminating Company, Lynbrook, New York.
Marcia Stewart, Nolo’s acquisitions editor, championed this book
from the very beginning and performed tireless outreach in lining up
our team of advisers. Also at Nolo, I owe a huge debt to Stan Jacobsen,
who scoured the University of California library system for the latest,
greatest, and, in some cases, most academically arcane research on
workplace wellness and health. Sigrid Metson and Tom Silva of Nolo’s
business division were also important early advocates of the book. Lisa
Guerin contributed crucial insights on employment policies and legal
matters. Rich Stim helped define the book’s structure and added audio
wizardry by recording interviews with the members of our advisory
board. Shae Irving edited, and in some cases wrestled the manuscript to
a state of completion, with a wise and graceful balance of prodding and
encouragement. She also offered many substantive ideas and developed
several of the forms on the CD-ROM. Barbara Kate Repa, one of Nolo’s
most experienced authors, contributed material regarding stress in the
workplace. And thanks, finally, to Nolo’s production and applications
development departments, including Jaleh Doane, Emma Cofod, Terri
Hearsh, Susan Putney, and Ellen Bitter.
About the Author
Ilona Bray is an author and editor at Nolo and a former attorney. She has
written on a wide range of topics, from real estate to immigration law
to nonprofit fundraising. She is the author of Effective Fundraising for
Nonprofits: Real World Strategies That Work and Becoming a U.S. Citizen:
A Guide to the Law, Exam & Interview, and coauthor of the popular
Nolo’s Essential Guide to Buying Your First Home.
Ilona’s working background includes solo legal practice, nonprofit,
and corporate stints. She received her law degree and a Masters degree
in East Asian (Chinese) Studies from the University of Washington,
and a degree in philosophy from Bryn Mawr College. A health and
fitness buff, Ilona enjoys cooking healthy (and gluten-free) foods, hiking,
swimming, and yoga.
Healthy Employees, Healthy Business
Board of Advisers
Dr. Kenneth r. Pelletier, clinical professor of medicine at
the University of Arizona as well as at the University of
California School of Medicine, San Francisco (UCSF),
in both the Department of Family and Community
Medicine and the Department of Psychiatry.
rae Lee Olson, principal with Vita Benefi ts Group, an
employee benefi ts brokerage and consulting fi rm in
Mountain View, California.
Dr. Douglas Metz, Chief Health Services Offi cer and
Executive Vice President at American Specialty Health
(ASH) and its subsidiary, Healthyroads, located in San
Diego, California.
Charles P. Gerba, Ph.D., professor at the University of
Arizona and author of many books, including Th e Germ
Freak’s Guide to Outwitting Colds and Flu: Guerilla
Tactics to Keep Yourself Healthy at Home, at Work and in
the World, cowritten with Allison Janse.
Dr. Preston Maring, a primary care physician at Kaiser
Permanente in Northern California and founder of
the Friday farmers’ markets outside Kaiser Permanente
medical facility locations.