PEOPLE: Personnel File Companies Get Strict on Health of Workers By Hedley Lawson Monday, April 1, 2013 4:00 PM A recent Aon Hewitt survey of 800 large and midsize employers, which found that the vast majority of companies (79 percent) use rewards, like lower insurance premiums, to motivate employees to improve their health. Researchers also determined that more companies are taking the programs a step further by penalizing staffers who do not make healthy choices and linking incentives to measurable results. While a little more than half, or 56 percent, of the companies using incentives required employees to sign up for programs like health coaching or completing a questionnaire, 24 percent tied their incentives to progress on measures like a person’s blood pressure or body mass index. In addition, the poll shows that over 66 percent of firms said they were considering taking similar steps in the future. Hedley Lawson, Contributing Editor Managing Partner Aligned Growth Partners, LLC 707-217-0979 hlawson@alignedgrowth.com www.alignedgrowth.com