wellness

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More and more employers are offering “wellness programs” to help maintain productivity, reduce sick time and boost morale. Los Angeles companies offer everything from fitness programs to pre-natal classes. The Business Journal looked at eight different companies and the types of programs they offer.

Home Savings of America: Every month, the company holds seminars for its employees on different health topics, including breast-cancer awareness, nutrition, weight management, stress management and men’s health. The company also offers free massage sessions to all its employees during lunch breaks at least two days a week. There is a fitness center on the work site with a paid full-time physiologist and a lunchtime walk program.

Litton Industries: Litton sends out a newsletter to all of its employees that includes articles about the benefits of exercise, weight management and nutrition and mental health issues. There is also an “employee assistance program,” which offers confidential counseling for those with substance abuse and other psychological problems. The company holds health fairs throughout the year that focus on seasonal ailments.

Health Net: There are lunchtime seminars on a variety of health-related topics as well as a walking club, an on-site lactation center and a pre-natal education program. Annual fitness screenings and flu immunizations are offered free of charge. Employees are also given a fitness reimbursement of $35 a month to pay for a health club, dance, yoga or martial arts classes.

Atlantic Richfield: Arco’s wellness programs are implemented by its various health insurance plans. The company focuses much of its efforts on two major diseases that cause a considerable amount of sick time diabetes and asthma. The company pays extra funds to the health plans for each employee suffering from these ailments, so that the plan will monitor them more closely. For example, a health plan might send in a nurse to advise diabetic employees on how to manage their diets correctly.

Nissan: Employees receive a certain number of points for exercising, wearing seatbelts, playing basketball or tennis, quitting smoking even for rollerblading. The points are awarded on the honor system and can be redeemed for a maximum of $400 cash or various kinds of athletic equipment, such as tennis rackets, basketballs, or steps for aerobics. There is also a fitness center on the work site with full-time physical trainers.

Warner Bros.: The company has a state-of-the-art fitness center that costs employees $275 a year with no initiation fee. The company also offers a range of wellness seminars on topics like deep breathing, alternative medicine, vegetarian diets, pre- and post-natal nutrition and parenting. Additionally, there are special classes tailored to certain departments. For example, the crew that builds sets for television shows was offered a seminar on back care.

Boeing: The company offers a variety of health screenings for cholesterol, skin cancer, breast cancer and diabetes. There are seminars offered throughout the year on reducing the risk of heart disease, fitness, stress management and nutrition.

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