Employee Benefit News for School, City and County Employers

New Proposed Wellness Rules Coming in 2019

Written by Ken Zastrow | Jun 11, 2019 12:17:43 PM

1 minute read

The Equal Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced its plans to issue new proposed rules on permissible wellness incentives under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by the end of 2019. The ADA applies to employer-sponsored wellness plans that ask for health information or include medical exams.

The EEOC issued final rules in May of 2016 addressing how the ADA applied to employer-sponsored wellness plans. The final rules included a 30% limit for wellness incentives. A federal court vacated this incentive limit effective January 1, 2019, and the EEOC removed the incentive limit from its final wellness rules.

 

New proposed rules were expected to be issued by June 2019, but they have been delayed. Now the EEOC is expected to publish final rules by December 2019.

Until new wellness rules are issued, employers should carefully consider the level of incentives they use with their wellness programs. Stay tuned to our blog and we’ll let you know when the final rules are published.

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