It is a bit ironic to hear about companies that promote exercise and display it as a “company benefit” to their employees. The truth is that it is a benefit for both employees looking to lose weight or improve their health as well as for the company; encouragement for employee can significantly reduce employer’s health care costs.
As an employee that works inside a gym (and literally gets to watch people work out all day long), my motivation to get exercising comes a little easier than most. And the free gym membership doesn’t hurt. But from talking to my friends and doing some research on leading companies, they certainly are getting creative!
Here are some of the coolest exercise benefits I came across…
1. Each employee gets 3 hours per work week to take for exercise. To break it down, a 40 hour work week turns into 37 hours with built-in time for exercise! Not bad.
2. Contracted discount gym memberships through Bally’s, Gold’s Gym, or other local gyms in your area.
3. A health stipend to spend on exercise-related expenses for the year (gym memberships, yoga classes, Jazzercise classes…you get the picture).
4. On site gyms at the workplace. This one eliminates the old “I don’t feel like driving to the gym” excuse. However, the gyms at workplaces typically won’t offer all the amenities a large gym would.
5. Some companies even offer the services of personal trainers to their employees!
Bottom line is that this list is pretty impressive. Although the companies have ulterior motives, it still ends up being a nice benefit for you.
Does your current company offer some or any of these benefits to you as an employee? Do you feel like they should offer more, or are you happy with your exercise benefits?
This is a guest post from Lauren Kleinman.
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