The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has published a sample notice for employers that offer voluntary wellness programs containing participation incentives to use to satisfy the notice requirements contained in the EEOC’s recently promulgated wellness program regulations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The EEOC’s new rule explicitly permits employers, under certain circumstances, to offer incentives to employees in exchange for participating in a wellness program that involves providing disability-related information or undergoing a medical examination. One of the conditions with which employers must comply is providing notice to employees.
The EEOC’s sample ADA wellness program notice is available here. Although the EEOC’s sample notice contains all required elements necessary to comply, employers have the option of providing their own notice.
However, the EEOC’s sample ADA wellness program notice does not fulfill employers’ obligations under the EEOC’s Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) wellness program rule, which requires employers, before obtaining genetic information from employees or their spouses, to receive written authorization and provide notice.
Members of the Equal Employment Advisory Council (EEAC) can read more here.