The cost of getting your employees gym memberships

From lack of productivity from employees to higher insurance premiums, having overweight and unhealthy employees can cost an employer a lot of money. But does the cost of motivating employees to get healthy cost more than unhealthy employees? This article discusses exactly what it could cost an employer to get their employees gym memberships.

Different area and gym equals a different price

The prices for gym memberships will vary from year to year, from season to season, and from state to state. For an employer to find out the exact price it would cost to purchase their employees gym memberships, they would have to do some research at the gym facilities near their business.

How to keep the price low

Some gym facilities offer a discounted rate for gym memberships if the member will go during certain off peak times when the facility is not as busy. Off peak times will vary at each gym facility, but this can be a great way for an employer to save some money when purchasing gym memberships for their employees. Of course, this option will not work for all employers if the off peak gym hours are during the time their employees are at work.

Watching for special offers is another good way for an employer to save money on the cost of getting their employees gym memberships. Special offers will vary from gym to gym, but they may be a great option for an employer who wants to get gym memberships for their employees.

And an employer does not need to purchase gym membership from the local gym chain. Getting memberships for their employees from locally owned gym may be a less expensive way for employer to go. This may be especially true if the employer can guarantee to the gym owner a certain amount of memberships each year.

Number of employees

If the cost of purchasing gym memberships for every single employee in the office is just too high, an employer can come right out and ask which employees would be interested in having a gym membership. If that number is still a little too high, they could make an agreement with each employee who would like a free gym membership. The employer could set up a trial period and they could ask each employee, who would like a gym membership, to use it a certain amount of times during the trial period. Any employee who does not end up using the gym membership the specified number of times that was agreed upon will not be able to keep the membership.

Is it worth it?

To really figure out if it is worth it for an employer to pay for gym memberships for his or her employees, one would have to do the research to find out how much is lost in productivity from overweight or unhealthy employees, how much money is lost when a replacement has to be found or tasks have to be divvied out when an unhealthy or overweight employee is injured or has called in sick, and how much more is spent on the overweight employees' health insurance. And then that would need to be compared to how much money is gained from healthy, happy employees who are able to work hard, and how much less is spent on a healthier employees' health insurance.

It is likely that the exact number will never be known, but an employer can definitely do a rough estimate to find out if purchasing gym memberships for employees is worth the cost. There is no definite answer when it comes to purchasing gym memberships for employees. Each business will be different. They have different budgets, dissimilar employees at each company, and the cost effectiveness of this option will vary from business to business.