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<br /> <br />Request for Action <br /> <br /> <br />To Item Number <br />Mayor and City Council 10.2 <br />Agenda Section Meeting Date Prepared by <br />Work Session March 4, 2019 Lauren Wipper, Human Resources Manager <br />Item Description Reviewed by <br />Discuss Health Rewards Program Cal Portner, City Administrator <br />Reviewed by <br /> <br /> <br />Action Requested <br />Discussion <br /> <br />Background/Discussion <br />The city began offering employee wellness programs in 2005 through funding provided by our former <br />insurance co-op, Resource Training and Solutions (RTS). In 2006, ERMU partnered with the city. In 2007, <br />state statute gave cities the ability to provide wellness and employee recognition programs using city funds. <br />The city left RTS in 2008 and began funding the program using money received from the tobacco settlement <br />with BlueCross BlueShield. Once the tobacco funds were spent, the city began funding the program through <br />insurance reserve. <br /> <br />After leaving RTS, the Wellness Committee relied on ERMU for the purchase of employee incentives as <br />ERMU’s funds were still provided by RTS. Last year, ERMU asked to leave the committee to provide <br />wellness opportunities to their employees on their own. This left the city without the ability to provide <br />incentives to employees for participation in wellness programs. We would like to update the policy to allow <br />the purchase of incentives going forward. <br /> <br />Incentives purchased in the past were health and wellness related and frequently tied directly to the event. <br />For example, the winner of the disc golf challenge received a set of discs, we provided lawn games to <br />winners of the lawn game triathlon. We have also provided state park passes, gift certificates for Clearwater <br />Outfitters to take a trip down the river, Yeti-like water bottles, and team incentives like wristbands to <br />identify teams in a challenge. <br /> <br />Financial Impact <br />The committee would continue to operate on the same funding formula as identified in the policy; there <br />would be no increase with allowing the committee to purchase incentives. The budget for 2019 is $1,656 <br />and comes from insurance reserve. The committee does an exceptional job providing wellness learning <br />opportunities and events on a very limited budget. <br /> <br />Attachments <br /> Draft Health Rewards Program Policy Update <br /> <br />The Elk River Vision <br />A welcoming community with revolutionary and spirited resourcefulness, exceptional <br />service, and community engagement that encourages and inspires prosperity <br />