Wellness benefits have become a mainstream offering for most large companies. Smoking cessation, nutrition, fitness and health screenings all have been embraced by employers as a way to address health care costs and improve employee loyalty.

But as wellness programs become the norm, a new way of looking at wellness has emerged, and nontraditional wellness programs are now seen by many employers as a way to get an edge on recruitment and retention efforts. The envelope is being pushed in many directions, but the good news is that an expansive view of wellness has paid off for employers, in attracting young workers, retaining older ones, and even in seeing a good return on investment.

Paul Terry, chief science officer at StayWell, a Minneapolis-based company that provides wellness programs to employers, said a holistic approach to worker wellness and nontraditional offerings are hallmarks of successful companies.

"There is an emerging interest among employers to move from wellness to well-being, which reflects their understanding that health improvement occurs best in environments where employees feel great about their work and their life in general,” Terry said. “Some of our more forward-looking clients are looking at the relationships between employee health, resiliency, satisfaction and engagement with a growing appreciation for how each of these domains contribute to higher employee and company performance.”

The IFEBP survey

A new survey from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans found that these nontraditional wellness benefits are on the rise.

“What we’re seeing is more organizations are turning to things that are not traditionally considered to be part of wellness,” Julie Stich, IFEBP director of research said. “Things that we’re calling social and community initiatives, as well as personal and professional development initiatives.”

Stich said the nontraditional wellness offerings are becoming more popular with employers because the focus of wellness has shifted.

“The genesis of wellness programs came about to really hold down health care costs, which were escalating,” she said.

“But now the data shows that more organizations think the No. 1 reason is to improve their employee’s wellbeing and engagement. And so that translates into some of these other offerings — it’s not just physical health anymore, it’s more all-around employee wellbeing," she added.

Stich said her group’s study found that employers were experimenting with benefits such as encouragement of using vacation time, tuition reimbursement and community charity drives.

Here are some of the top nontraditional benefits with which employers are experimenting.

Encouraging Use of Time Off

The study found that employer initiatives to encourage employees to use all their earned time off or vacation time was the most popular of the nontraditional wellness benefits. Sixty-six percent of employers in the survey said they were offering such programs.

“So many employees leave some of their vacation days laying on the table,” Stich said. “I think more and more companies are recognizing that it’s good to encourage employers to take that time, get refreshed, and come back ready to work some more.“

Mental Health Coverage

Mental health coverage may not sound nontraditional: The IFEBP study showed that 80% of businesses surveyed offer employee assistance programs (which commonly provide mental health treatment services), and 62% offer mental health coverage as part of their medical benefits.

However, other mental health-related benefits were on the rise as well. In the survey, additional mental health offerings included critical incident/crisis response counseling (32.8%), stress management programs (23.6%) and mental health assessments as part of an HRA (21.1%).

Tuition Reimbursement

Tuition reimbursement was very popular, especially with younger workers, many of whom face the possibility of crushing student debt, either from past educational costs or from training they may be considering. Nearly 63% of the businesses in the IEBP survey report offering some form of tuition reimbursement.

A 2013 study by the Society for Human Resource Management found that 61% of employers offered undergraduate educational assistance, and 59% offered graduate-level education assistance.

“As with career development benefits, educational assistance not only helps the employee but also benefits the employer by developing a more educated workforce,” the SHRM study said.

Community Charity Drives, Community Volunteering

According to the IEBGP survey, 57% of employers surveyed sponsor community charity drives. In addition, 46% of companies offer some type of community volunteering opportunity to employees.

The SHRM study had a similar finding, showing that 47% of the companies in its survey offered community volunteer opportunities.

“Community volunteer programs offer organizations an excellent opportunity to provide value-added benefits to the business, employees and community. These programs can be tailored to best suit the needs of the organization’s mission, vision and business goals,” the study said.

On-site Events/Other Celebrations

IEFEBP found that just more than 50% of employers offered this stress-reducing and community-building option, while noting that many employers have offered similar events long before anyone considered the wellness aspect of an office party.

The SHRM study found similar offerings were popular, including company picnics (55%), discount ticket services (35%) and company-purchased tickets to outside events (26%).

“Social gatherings provide the opportunity for employees to get to know one another outside of the job, which can lead to better working relationships at the office,” the report said.

Financial Education

Another benefit that adds to peace of mind for employees is financial education. The SHRM study found about 25% of employers offered financial counseling, either one-on-one or via online services. The IFEBP survey found 29% of employers offering financial education.

Purchasing Power noted that in the aftermath of the last recession, many workers were still recovering from the hit their investments took.

“While gains in the stock market and the economy have led some companies to believe their employees are also recovering financially, that’s not the case,” the site said. “According to most research, many employees are still struggling financially and the associated stress is distracting them at work, impacting productivity. Non-traditional voluntary benefits that improve employee financial wellness will be sought be more employers offer and will see a higher employee participation rate.”

The Payoff of Nontraditional Wellness Benefits

In the past, Stich and others said, employers closely watched return on investment numbers to judge whether their wellness efforts were a success. That mindset might be changing, though.

“Employers are seeing a positive impact of wellness on things like productivity and employee engagement, so you don’t have quite as much turnover,” she said. “Those are some positive aspects of wellness that employers haven’t always considered or looked for.

“We do see that wellness is evolving now, with employers looking at the employee holistically; as a whole person.”

Instant Insights /

6 Nontraditional Wellness Benefits Changing the Game

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