EEOC finally issues wellness rules: 8 things employers will want to know

By Christian Schappel

It took a while, but employers finally have some sold guidance on how to design their wellness program incentives so they don’t violate the ADA. 
The EEOC has been promising for a while now to issue rules to clear up the confusion it’s created around what kinds of wellness incentives are legal — and when non-participation penalties become so steep as to render a program “involuntary” and, thus, illegal under the ADA.
Well, the EEOC has finally kept its promise, and its new proposed rules outline, in its words, “how Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to employee wellness programs that are part of group health plans …” The regs will be published in the Federal Register on Monday.
But the EEOC did offer a sneak peek of the proposed rules on its website.

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