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His article is very appropriate to the topic. I think this is useful for his research paper. It supports that companies employees to exercise in order to receive healthcare benefits.
----Zhenxiang Sun

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First, I like Ning Hongjun's article. I think this article is useful since if I agree on the topic (employers should require their employees to exercise to get healthcare benefits), I should display some reasonable arguments to support my view. This article supports the question through three aspects: Physical Benefits, Mental Benefits and Emotional Benefits.

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I think this article is useful since if I agree on the topic (employers should require their employees to exercise to get healthcare benefits), I should display some reasonable arguments to support my view. This article supports the question through three aspects: Physical Benefits, Mental Benefits and Emotional Benefits.

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After reading the article from Mosad, I notice that there are more and more workers exist in society with heavy pressure,especially in America. By taking exercise,not only can they release themselves,but also they can get benefits in health.

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After reading the article from Mostafa&Roger,I think this one is good to illustrate why workers should do exercise,and shown us how much damage employees will undertaken

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I have looked thought the article of Li Baijiang.His article has many strong reasons to support why employees need healthcare.That's a good demonstration for our topic

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The article from Hongjun Ning,which lets me know the benefits of taking exercises in mental and physical health. After reading his article, I realized that encouraging employees to take exercise is a brilliant strategy to let them pay attention on their health.

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The article that Zhang Xinwen's group posted that give valuable information about the relevant between health benifits and employee exercise in companies.It can be used in research paper

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The article that Zhang Xinwen's group posted that give valuable information about the relevant between health benifits and employee exercise in companies.It can be used in research paper

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Guo Lingfeng

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The article that Mostafa, Roger and Tian posted supports the heathy insurance affet employees in companies in many situation

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The article that Mostafa, Roger and Tian posted supports the heathy insurance affet employees in companies in many situation

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Guo Lingfeng

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Articale shared by Mosad and  Robgfe has also shown the reasons why companies should require employees to excercise in order to riceve the healthcare benefits.

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Articale shared by Mosad and  Robgfe has also shown the reasons why companies should require employees to excercise in order to riceve the healthcare benefits.

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Sabiha Ferdousi yean

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To me Ning Hongjun's article was quite relevent to this idea .  Becasue there are too many benefits for the company for individual employees and that article supports this idea clerly. 

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To me Ning Hongjun's article was quite relevent to this idea .  Becasue there are too many benefits for the company for individual employees and that article supports this idea clerly. 

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Sabiha Ferdousi yean

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Li baijiang's post is an article of how to deal with the healthcare issues of employees, which i think is a valuable source to use in my own research paper, because it has given many constructive guidelines of the topic.

Mostafa, Roger and Tian posted an article which is also dircted connected to our topic, which has very detailed suggests about the insurance of employees, so I may also refer to it in my research.

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Ning Hongjun’s artical has strong support on why employees need to take exercises, but there is no any citation on that. I think I can not use it in research paper.

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Ning Hongjun’s artical has strong support on why employees need to take exercises, but there is no any citation on that. I think I can not use it in research paper.

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Xinwen Zhang

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Artical is from Anika that is just a story that employers built their own exercise plan and gave a couple of successful examples from successful leader in order to keep health and wellness.But there is not enough citation in it, I think it can not use it in research paper.
Xinwen Zhang

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Susan &Vicki’ artical is very useful, because the reporter explain why people need to take exercise from individual to company. And people also need to be incentives change their notion about health and wellness. The artical was cited and had authorized statistics.

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Susan &Vicki’ artical is very useful, because the reporter explain why people need to take exercise from individual to company. And people also need to be incentives change their notion about health and wellness. The artical was cited and had authorized statistics.

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Xinwen Zhang

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https://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/13/why-one-company-pays-employees-to-exercise-2-5-hours-a-week.html

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Zhenxiang Sun & Hongjun Ning & Linfeng Guo

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Zhenxiang Sun & Hongjun Ning & Linfeng Guo

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Even though in this article doesn't mention healthcare

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After a long day at the office, a trip to the gym often doesn't have much appeal.

But with millions of Canadians spending half their waking hours at sedentary office jobs, skipping out on physical activity is hurting our overall health.

Michael Amernic, 34, is working to change that. The personal trainer and fitness consultant at Michael Amernic Fitness is making it his mission to assist corporations set up gym programs and fitness centres in the workplace.

If employees are too tired to head to the gym after spending most of the day at work, then why not bring the fitness centre to the office, he figures.

The Public Health Agency of Canada estimates 16 million adult Canadians spend half of their waking hours at work, making it increasingly difficult to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

The Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute says just one-fifth of small Canadian businesses offers fitness or physical activities for employees.

Putting such wellness programs into place would encourage people to get active and improve overall health, Amernic says. And others agree.

"I would love to have a facility at work," says Rose Ferranti, a recording media manager at Sharp's Broadcast in Toronto. "It would be a great stress release as well as make more time for other activities after hours. I would especially love to have yoga classes - it would give my mind and body a chance to regroup and refresh and be more productive afterwards."

Amernic started out by working with senior management and doctors at their workplaces. After identifying a need for all overworked employees, he started visiting corporations to gage interest and he now consults with businesses interested in workplace fitness centres.

Health and fitness programs benefit both the employee and employer; they lead to increased productivity, enhanced morale, lower health costs and reduced absenteeism for the organization, says Amernic. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that healthier employees are less likely to call in sick, reducing the costs of sick leaves for a business.

"I go to company offices and headquarters and train staff. I also help companies get fitness and wellness programs off the ground as far as building their gyms," says Amernic, who has worked in the fitness industry for 12 years.

So far, he has started up fitness facilities at two corporations in Toronto.

"When I started (at one company), I was working with 2 per cent of their staff population at head office," he says. "In two years, that's grown now to 25 per cent (of staff participating)."

And he says setting up a fitness facility in the workplace can be easier than it first appears. Many office buildings have unused space, which can be easily turned into a gym.

"There are a lot of untruths about people thinking that you need millions of dollars to have a high-end facility on site, which is not necessarily true," he says.

The cost of putting up walls and adding flooring and equipment - including treadmill, elliptical machine, bench and weights - depends on the company budget. For $10,000, a company can build a full-fitness facility in an unused office space, he says. A cost-effective way for companies to do this is pay for the cost of facility and employees pay for the classes.

Amernic advises employers not to let the initial cost and work involved in building a facility distract from the benefits that will come from bringing fitness to the workplace.

"Once a wellness fitness program is in place on site, that organization has a much more positive image, which helps them in recruiting new staff," he says. "They take care of their employees and their employees' health."

Being physically fit is not just about losing weight to look good, he says; there is a high correlation between fitness and physiological health.

"Thirty minutes to an hour of exercise during a busy day at work really helps the clarity of mind," he says. "I train lawyers, doctors and police officers. I get told time and time again that exercise is their single most important avenue to relieve stress."

On-site fitness centers have the potential to be very successful providing employees will participate in the group fitness initiative.

"It's about getting people active and getting them to be more fit and aware of their bodies," says Amernic. "You want to make people understand what are the benefits and there are many."

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canadian fitness and lifestyle research institute

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A gym at the office benefits employers and employees | The Star

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After a long day at the office, a trip to the gym often doesn't have much appeal. But with millions of Canadians spending half their waking hours at sedentary office jobs, skipping out on physical activity is hurting our overall health. Michael Amernic, 34, is working to change that.

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The article shows the reason why employees deserve healthcare benefits.

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Health care benefits are optional for most smaller employers, but of critical importance to most employees. Employers of all sizes should be aware of the pros and cons of offering health benefits to their employees.

Benefits are a critical piece of an employee compensation package, and health care benefits are the crown jewel. Health care benefits, along with time-off benefits, are the most popular of benefits to employees. Every employer must at least consider whether to offer these types of benefits and in some cases employers must offer health care in order to remain competitive with other businesses for the most talented employees and avoid penalties imposed by health care reform. Another reason why many employers choose to offer health care benefits is so that they themselves can take advantage of less expensive health insurance than they could get on their own as well as tax breaks for the contributions made by the business.

Unless you are an employer in Hawaii, you are not required by state law to offer your employees health insurance benefits. Hawaii is the first state to require employers to provide health insurance to employees. The law, the Prepaid Health Care Act, was passed in 1974 and requires employers to provide health insurance to all full-time employees, either through an indemnity plan or an HMO. (The requirement that Massachusetts employers with more than ten employees make a fair share contribution for full-time employees' health insurance coverage costs or pay a fair share contribution per employee is no longer in effect as of July 1, 2013, due to to the implementation of federal health care reform.)

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and related legislation requires employers with 50 or more full-time employees (or a combination of full-time and part-time employees that is equivalent to 50 full-time employees) to offer adequate health coverage or be subject to assessment if their employees receive premium tax credits to buy their own insurance. This mandate is in effect beginning in 2015. Conversely, beginning in 2010, small businesses with fewer than 25 employees may be eligible for a tax credit for purchasing health insurance for their employees.

If you do make the decision to offer health insurance benefits, be aware that you call into play a whole series of laws that will tell you what coverage you have to offer and how you have to offer it. Therefore, the first decision to make is whether to offer health insurance at all.

Pros and Cons of Offering Health Care Benefits

There are a number of advantages to offering health benefits to your workers. Here are a few of the major ones:

Attract and retain the most qualified employees. Whether health insurance is absolutely necessary to attract and retain the most qualified employees will depend upon factors such as whether your competitors or other similarly sized employers in your area are offering health insurance.

Avoid health care reform assessments. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and related legislation requires employers with 50 or more full-time employees (or a combination of full-time and part-time employees that is equivalent to 50 full-time employees) to offer adequate health coverage or be subject to assessment if their employees receive premium tax credits to buy their own insurance. This mandate is in effect beginning in 2015.

Gain tax advantages. You can offer employees something that increases their compensation package and yet allows you an income tax deduction for the contribution, so that your out-of-pocket cost is less than the value of the benefit to the employee. Self-employed individuals can deduct 100 percent of their health insurance premium costs as a business expense. You can always deduct 100 percent of premiums for your employees. If the business is incorporated, all costs for your own insurance as well as your employees' is deductible.

Take advantage of the small business health care tax credit. Small businesses with fewer than 25 employees may be eligible for a tax credit for purchasing health insurance for their employees.

Offer employees group purchasing power. Even if you decide not to contribute anything toward your employees' health insurance, you can offer them the opportunity to obtain group rates through your business. In addition, small businesses (generally, those with 50 or fewer full-time employees) may purchase health care coverage through a government-run insurance marketplace established specifically for them-the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP).

Ensure the wellness of your workers. Insurance plans offer preventative care that can keep employees healthy and working. If employees don't get preventative care and yearly physicals (which they might not do if they don't have insurance), you could end up having more employees out for long periods of time with serious illnesses.

There is a downside to offering health benefits, too. Some of the cons of offering health benefits are:

The costs. Health care costs have risen enormously in recent years. As a result, not only are the costs draining valuable resources from many small employers, the uncertainty makes financial planning extremely difficult.

The sometimes tense business of cost-sharing with employees. There is a way for a small employer to control costs and return certainty to the process: push any additional costs on to employees. While that may solve the financial problems, it creates many others. Even if you don't want to push all the costs on to employees, pushing some of the costs on to them is inevitable.

The administrative hassles. Even though the insurance company from whom you purchase the health insurance will usually act as plan administrator, you will have to choose the insurer and then spend part of your time filling out forms, remitting premiums, and acting as intermediary between employee and insurer, among many other tasks.

The potential liability. The potential for liability for selecting a health care provider that commits malpractice on an employee does exist. While this risk is small and should not be the driving reason behind a decision not to offer health insurance, you should be aware that several employers have been sued by their employees for what they contend was their employer's carelessness in selecting a provider.

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Should You Offer Employees Health Care Benefits?

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Health care benefits are optional for most smaller employers, but of critical importance to most employees. Employers of all sizes should be aware of the pros and cons of offering health benefits to their employees. Benefits are a critical piece of an employee compensation package, and health care benefits are the crown jewel.

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I choose this because this resource is professional and can be trusted!
Xinwen Zhang, Zhiwen Nie, yean Anika

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The title looks good. It may support our opinion but must read in detail.

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(LifeWire) -- Three years ago, Danilo Reyes, a test engineer for Intel, received a $50 gift card from his employer to take a health-assessment test. Reyes figured that he'd pass the test with flying colors -- he doesn't smoke or drink -- and Intel made it easy by offering the free test at his office in Hillsboro, Oregon.

But when Reyes received the results, the diagnosis was a complete shock: His cholesterol and blood-sugar levels were abnormally high.

"It turned out I was a borderline diabetic and at high risk for a heart attack," says Reyes, 41. "I was terrified."

Motivated by his diagnosis, Reyes consulted his family doctor, who put him on medicine to lower his cholesterol. A health coach at Intel, part of the company's wellness program, helped by advising Reyes on joining a gym and eating better. Over time, Reyes says, he's seen tangible benefits and shed some excess pounds.

"Getting healthy even inspired me to start up a hobby," he says. "I take karate now, as well as going to the gym. I'm happy and healthy."

Steps toward wellness

Almost a third of companies offering health insurance benefits to their employees also provide a wellness program of some sort. Fitness, smoking cessation and weight-loss programs are provided most frequently, according to 2006 employer health benefits survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The telephone survey contacted 2,122 randomly selected public and private employers.

While most companies say they have a genuine concern for their employees' well being, the rising cost of health care is obviously part of the equation. Obesity-related health issues, for example, cost American companies approximately $13 billion dollars per year, according to the Washington D.C.-based National Business Group on Health, a non-profit organization representing large employers on health policy issues.

"Health and wellness programs at work are a win/win situation for everybody," says Richard Taylor, vice president of human resources at Intel. "We keep our insurance costs down, and the employees are offered free health and wellness opportunities."

Alfred Sanchez, the CEO of the YMCA of Greater Miami, agrees. He started a free health and fitness program in March for his staff and their families that include weigh-ins, meetings with health counselors, nutritional guidance and exercise plans. Out of a staff of 170, all but 40 employees signed up.

"Our business is all about health and fitness," says Sanchez. "Losing weight is nice, so is lowering your cost of health insurance, but the real pay-off is helping your staff lower their cholesterol and stay healthy."

Invasion of privacy?

Some people, however, bristle at what they perceive as having lifestyle choices dictated by an employer.

This May, for example, the University of Massachusetts Medical School banned all tobacco use from their campus and hospital, including parking lots. If an employee is caught smoking, they risk being fired.

"They won't even allow people to smoke in their cars," says James LeBlanc, 45, an employee at the university and himself an ex-smoker who kicked the habit prior to the ban. "We all know smoking is bad for you, but last time I checked it was still legal in this country."

Some companies forbid their employees to light up at all -- even at home. There are at least 20 states that allow for this type of work policy, including Ohio, where the state's second-largest employer, the Cleveland Clinic, stopped hiring smokers in September.

In Massachusetts, Scott Rodrigues, was fired from Scotts Miracle-Gro Company -- which bans its workers from smoking at all -- after testing positive for nicotine. Rodrigues has sued the multibillion dollar corporation for an invasion of his privacy and civil rights. The case is still being decided in the Massachusetts courts. A spokesperson for Scotts Miracle-Gro said the company does not comment on pending litigation.

"We're really seeing a provocative attitude, like Scotts, towards smokers in the workplace, but there is concern about where employers might draw the line," says Glenn Patton, a partner in Alston & Bird's Labor & Employment Group in Atlanta, Georgia, and an authority on legal issues in the workplace.

Where companies draw that line is a particular concern for Chicago resident Paul McAleer. He runs the Web site BigFatBlog.com, which focuses on weight-related issues in the media and serves as a forum for its 2,600 members to write about and discuss "fat acceptance." He says members of his site fear companies may one day treat losing weight like they do quitting smoking, as something workers should be encouraged -- or required -- to do.

"[The term] 'health and wellness' has become a euphemism for 'not fat'," says McAleer, 30, whose site grew out of research he conducted on size-discrimination issues in the media and society while enrolled at Morton College in the mid-1990s. "When employers set up these programs, they shouldn't penalize people for not losing weight. Your weight shouldn't be anyone's business but your own."

Some commitment required

Of course, just having a wellness program in place is no guarantee that employees will become healthier -- or even that the program will succeed. When the Austin, Texas-based brokerage firm, Resource Financial Group initially offered their employees a program, it was a flop.

"No one really knew about it. It was just an online program," says Shannon Scott, 42, an account manager.

As it turns out, maintaining a successful wellness program can require the same sort of commitment from a company as working to stay healthy does from an employee.

"Now we have a program that offers us incentives like a gym pass when we sign up for the company health program online. We even have a subcommittee that organizes trips to hear nutritionists or guest lecturers," Scott says. "What we learned is that it's not enough to offer a program, you have to promote it to get people involved."
LifeWire provides original and syndicated lifestyle content to Web publishers. Maya Dollarhide is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in the New York Daily News and Ms. magazine.
All About Health Care Issues

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Can your company force you to be healthy?

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Three years ago, Danilo Reyes, a test engineer for Intel, received a $50 gift card from his employer to take a health-assessment test. Reyes figured that he'd pass the test with flying colors -- he doesn't smoke or drink -- and Intel made it easy by offering the free test at his office in Hillsboro, Oregon.

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There are many benefits demonstrate that exercise is good for employees.

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It would be ideal if each employee felt that wellness was valued so highly at their company that taking a 30 minute fitness or meditation break would be supported whole-heartedly. But until this ideal is a reality, employers may want to consider the full range of benefits of regular exercise.

Conscientious companies are getting in-tune with what Arianna Huffington calls the Third Metric of Success and are making workplace wellness a top priority. In reading Harvard Business Review's Regular Exercise is Part of Your Job, there are simply too many benefits for the individual and employer to ignore.

Physical Benefits
Exercise is most often heralded for its myriad physical benefits.

lower blood pressure

healthier heart

healthier body weight

reduced chronic health conditions and disease

Mental Benefits
According to Harvard Business Review, social scientists have found compelling evidence that showsexercise has an even more immediate impact on the way we think. "Our mental firepower is directly linked to our physical regimen. And nowhere are the implications more relevant than to our performance at work."

Improved concentration

Sharper memory

Faster learning

Prolonged mental stamina

Enhanced creativity

Emotional Benefits
Exercise also protects our emotional core by elevating our mood, thanks to the influx of natural brain-soothing chemicals like serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine. Chances are you might react differently in that heated meeting, or send a more rational response to a coworker's snarky email if you've had your daily workout.

The Bottom Line
Harvard Business Review sums up their article citing a study by Leeds Metropolitan University which found that "on days when employees visited the gym, their experience at work changed. They reported managing their time more effectively, being more productive, and having smoother interactions with their colleagues. Just as important: They went home feeling more satisfied at the end of the day." So when you think "I can't afford time to exercise today," remember that you can't afford not to! And if you're an employer or manager, is it really worth the increase in sick days, health care costs or attrition of putting one more meeting in place of a 30 minute workout? Try having a one on one meeting while you take a walk.

Whether or not companies today or in the future begin to require regular exercise from each employee, remember that you can help influence greater workplace wellness by taking a 30 minute wellness break during your day (without sneaking it!), or by setting aside time in your schedule to workout and asking your team to do the same. Not every company has a corporate fitness facility, but anyone can follow our DIY Workplace Wellness Program tips and start your own!

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Should Employers Require Regular Exercise?

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It would be ideal if each employee felt that wellness was valued so highly at their company that taking a 30 minute fitness or meditation break would be supported whole-heartedly. But until this ideal is a reality, employers may want to consider the full range of benefits of regular exercise.

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http://www.healthyworkinglives.com/advice/workplace-health-promotion/physicalhttp://www.healthyworkinglives.com/advice/workplace-health-promotion/physical

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Over 1.5M Americans died last year bc of cancer and heart diseases

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Janji

Is your job killing you?

According to death statistics from 2011 compiled by the CDC, the top three killers in the United States are heart disease, cancer and chronic lower respiratory diseases like emphysema. Collectively these diseases killed 1,316,211 Americans that year.

Far too many of these deaths were preventable. It's no secret that regular exercise and a good diet can dramatically reduce rates of heart disease. Nonetheless, nearly 80 percent of American adults don't get the recommended amount of exercise each week (2.5 hours of moderate aerobic activity or 1 hour and 15 minutes of vigorous activity).

Given how critical fitness is to overall health, I think it's worth taking a look at exercise in the one place where nearly all of us will spend a good chunk of our lives: the workplace. My observations are anecdotal - pulled from experiences in my own company - but I think the lessons learned can apply more broadly.

In my office - we're a tech company with around 700 employees focused on social media - exercise before, during and after working hours is encouraged. When we moved into a new headquarters several years ago, we installed a small gym and yoga room, as well as showers and changing rooms. Facilities are modest compared to those at some companies, but they're well used. Yoga classes are packed before work, at lunch and after work. In the gym, volunteers from our company lead sweaty bootcamps and cross-training classes. Groups set out from our office for lunchtime runs and evening hikes. We have a hockey team and a road biking team and even a Quidditch team that does battle on broomsticks in the park.

But, when it comes to promoting fitness on the job, dedicated facilities and organized teams like these are hardly necessities. Having the right workplace culture is far more important. Back in the day, in our cramped startup offices on the industrial side of town, we couldn't afford a gym (in fact, we couldn't even afford phones). But we did hang a fingerboard on the wall for pull-ups. We brought in yoga balls for chairs. We encouraged employees to bike to work, even though that meant cramming our office entryway full of bikes because it was too sketchy to park outside. And we made it clear that anyone could block off an hour for exercise during the day, provided it didn't conflict with meetings and they made up the time (by having lunch at their desks, for instance).

Flickr / USAG- Humphreys

I'm picturing old-school managers out there rolling their eyes. The manager's job, after all, is to get results out of employees, not keep them fit. But even on a ruthlessly practical level, allowing and encouraging employees to exercise at work makes good sense. I see employees return from workouts refreshed and better focused on their jobs. Time lost on exercise is made back and more in terms of improved productivity. There's some research to back this up. A study presented to the American College of Sports Medicine, for instance, found that workers who spent 30-60 minutes at lunch exercising reported an average performance boost of 15 percent. Sixty percent of employees said their time management skills, mental performance and ability to meet deadlines improved on the days they exercised. Workers in the study were less likely to suffer from post-lunch energy dips after exercising and also reported improvements in mood.

Then there are the longer-term benefits to keep in mind. Healthy, active employees take fewer sick days and bring more energy to the workplace. A 2011 study published in the Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine showed that incorporating just 2.5 hours of exercise per week into the workday led to a noticeable reduction in absences. Perhaps most importantly, fit and healthy workers are less prone to exactly the kinds of preventable, debilitating illnesses that take such a heavy toll on families and on society.

Syda Productions/Shutterstock

As a personal aside, I don't think I could have steered my company to where it is now without regular exercise. Over the past six years, we've grown from seven employees to a global operation with offices around the world. It's been a fun ride but not exactly the smoothest one. In the beginning, I was responsible for everything from marketing and HR to sales, product development and finance, often working 16-hour days for weeks at a stretch. Later came the stresses involved with scaling a tiny company into a worldwide operation, adding dozens of new employees a week and outgrowing offices every few months. For an entrepreneur, of course, these are all good problems to have. But I wouldn't have been able to maintain composure and focus in the midst of this chaos without taking at least a little time each day for exercise and, in particular, for yoga.

Growing up, I had always been active - playing lots of ultimate frisbee, mountain climbing and cycling. But right at the time that Hootsuite was ramping up, back injuries caught up with me. I turned to yoga as a way to strengthen my core and give my body time to heal. But I quickly discovered that the physical benefits were easily matched by the mental benefits. Yoga is literally a moving meditation. It gave me time to clear my head, unpack the volumes of new information I was absorbing each day and then come back with a new, clearer perspective on the problems at hand. On top of that, it's a great workout.

Getty Images / Anthony Kwan

At the end of the day, however, it's not the type of exercise that matters so much as providing a space in the workplace where fitness can thrive. There's a saying that couples who sweat together stay together. I think it's just as true that companies that sweat together stay together. Over the years, the culture of fitness in our office has grown with the enthusiasm of new employees and taken on a life of its own. Today, our staff include ultramarathoners who run 50 miles at a stretch, elite cyclists and triathletes, personal trainers, avid rowers and sailors, yogis and hardcore hikers and, of course, lots of people like me who just like a good workout from time to time.

Exercise in the office isn't a new idea. But it's such a clear win-win - in terms of health, morale and productivity - that I think it deserves to be put in the spotlight once more. Considering how pervasive heart disease and other preventable illnesses are, it's not an exaggeration to say that our future - as healthy individuals, healthy companies and healthy societies - may depend on it.

Read the original article on Medium. Copyright 2015.

SEE ALSO: 18 mistakes that will kill your startup

NOW WATCH: This wingsuit flight over New York City is an adrenaline junkie's dream

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Why it's time we paid employees to exercise at work

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Is your job killing you? According to death statistics from 2011 compiled by the CDC, the top three killers in the United States are heart disease, cancer and chronic lower respiratory diseases like emphysema. Collectively these diseases killed 1,316,211 Americans that year. Far too many of these deaths were preventable.

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This article support the idea of employees to be required to exer

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Back To Career News

Lots of employers offer health plans that give you some financial incentive for making healthy lifestyle choices, like quitting smoking or joining a gym. These are sometimes considered perks, touted as great reasons to choose Company A over Company B. Sure, we get it. But what happens when a company mandates that you work out every day? Is that illegal or just a jerk move?

It's Probably Not Illegal (Most of the Time)

An employer can make a daily group activity a condition of employment (dodgeball for everyone at 3 p.m.!), but according to Keisha-Ann G. Gray, who wrote about this issue on in 2010, they have to make reasonable accommodation for those who can't participate. If you're disabled, or otherwise unable to play a rigorous game of HORSE in the afternoon - you have to be excused.

If "daily group exercise is not an essential component of the job, but is made mandatory by the employer, the employer must excuse some employees from it or allow them to participate in a modified program (i.e., provide a reasonable accommodation) so as not to negatively impact employees who have physical limitations and disabilities and to avoid running afoul of the Americans with Disabilities Act," Gray writes.

So voluntary with incentives = good idea. Mandatory with penalties = legal headache for your employer.

It's Kind of a Jerk Move

So yes, those with a disability would need to be excused so as not to run afoul of U.S. law, but in other countries, this isn't a problem. At , Yvette Tan notes that a Chinese tech company is making its employees get 10,000 steps in a day, or be punished with ... pushups. (And you thought pushups as punishment ended in middle school gym classes!) They can get these steps in during the workday, say, on time spent outdoors together at lunch (yay!) or during their commutes to and from work (kind of yay!), but they have to get them in. Failure to do so means a penalty of 50-100 pushups. Yikes!

But It's Also Kind of Helpful?

The Japanese are often workplace innovators, and they even beat us to the punch with group exercise at work. Honda famously wrangled incoming assembly line workers into exercise programs designed to strengthen the muscles they'd need for making cars all day long. Now, Google offers on-site fitness centers, as well as bocce courts and a bowling alley for employees to blow off steam. You wouldn't think that an energy company would spend the time on Eastern enlightenment practices, but ConocoPhillips offers employees afternoon Tai Chi classes.

Whatever you choose to do, exercising before work, after work, or during work, it's still a good idea (so says the American Heart Association) to get in those steps, and get your workouts in more than a few times a week. If you're able to do something on the clock at work and get paid for it, maybe it's not so bad. As long as nobody is making you line up on that dodgeball line like you're back in 8 th grade about to get nailed in the head by your nemesis, it's all good.
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Lots of employers offer health plans that give you some financial incentive for making healthy lifestyle choices, like quitting smoking or joining a gym. These are sometimes considered perks, touted as great reasons to choose Company A over Company B. Sure, we get it.

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this article states the requirements of getting health insurance and doing exercise is not one of them !!