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After over a year,the COVID-19 pandemic is moving into its next chapter.
Antonio Rodriguez/Adobe Stock
But returning to in-person work can also mean returning to coworkers who are newly self-conscious of their size.
It may also mean returning to anxious diet talk and overt weight stigma.
For the unfamiliar, workplace wellness programs are employer-run or employer-contracted programs that ostensibly aim to increase employee wellness.
(Notably, though, research indicates thatwellness programs may not actually produce those much-touted cost savings.)
For an example of how this kind of program may be structured, take Whole Foods.
Like many grocery stores, Whole Foods offers its employees a 20% discount.
(The Whole Foods spokesperson did not comment on Mackeys statements.)
But data on the effectiveness of workplace wellness programs is largely imperfect and conflicting.
Some were offered wellness programming; others werent.
The impacts of workplace wellness programs arent just likely ineffective; they can also compound existing inequities.
And that is not responsible stewardship.
Workplace wellness programs can also stoke stigma in the workplace, inviting more hostility toward fat workers.
For those witheating disorders, workplace wellness programs can make work a minefield.
Workplace wellness programs dont just normalize deeply triggering diet talk; they often prompt and celebrate it.
And for many a relapse can be a matter of life or death.
People with eating disorders shouldnt have to choose between a relapse and a paycheck.
Holding them to the standards of nondisabled people isnt helping their healthits ignoring their disability.
But even without these specific pressures on employees, conceptually, workplace wellness programs simply dont hold water.
Life is hard enough for workers of all kinds.
As we return to in-person work, lets make the choice to decrease stigma and increase equity.
Lets leave workplace wellness programs in the past where they belong.
