Fifth Annual National Employee Wellness Month to Kick Off in June -- Encouraging Organizations to Further Engage Employees, Foster Healthy Lifestyles

FRAMINGHAM, MA--(Marketwire - Mar 28, 2013) - This June will mark the fifth year for National Employee Wellness Month (NEWM, twitter hashtag #NEWM2013), an initiative designed to empower business leaders to successfully engage employees in healthy lifestyles. Created in 2009 by Virgin HealthMiles in partnership with the Strategies to Overcome and Prevent (STOP) Obesity Alliance, National Employee Wellness Month is sponsored by these organizations along with the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease and WorldatWork. As companies gear up to meet the challenge of creating a healthier workforce through real engagement that drives sustainable lifestyle change, the initiative's sponsors are inviting corporate America to pledge their support and to help shine a spotlight on the positive impact of healthy lifestyles.

National Employee Wellness Month is an annual initiative that offers a hands-on look at how engaging employees in sustainable lifestyle change can help businesses improve productivity, lower healthcare costs, and create healthy cultures. Last year, more than 150 organizations and more than 65,000 employees participated in National Employee Wellness Month.

Through a collective rallying call, National Employee Wellness Month's four sponsors invite corporate America to participate in this month-long workplace wellness campaign. U.S.-based companies and organizations can participate by becoming a Proud Supporter of National Employee Wellness Month. Throughout June, participating organizations will promote the benefits of healthy lifestyles, and provide motivation and opportunities for employees to adopt healthy habits. 

Proud Supporters of National Employee Wellness Month will receive a toolkit with resources and ideas to help promote their organization's participation in the initiative. All corporate participants in National Employee Wellness Month receive access to health and wellness resources, survey data and more. Participation is also a tremendous opportunity to boost employees' awareness of the range of health and wellness offerings available to them, which can lead to healthier, more engaged, motivated employees. To learn more about how your organization can become a Proud Supporter of National Employee Wellness Month, visit http://www.nationalemployeewellnessmonth.com/proud-supporters.

"A healthy workforce is critical for employers that want to create a productive and high-performing organization. Yet, engaging employees in sustainable lifestyle change can be a real challenge," said Chris Boyce, CEO of Virgin HealthMiles. "Five years ago, we created National Employee Wellness Month in partnership with the STOP Obesity Alliance to highlight the critical role that the workplace can play in helping people become healthier. We're thrilled with how this initiative has grown over the past five years, but there's still a long way to go. That's why we're calling on organizations across the country to join us, become Proud Supporters of National Employee Wellness Month, and spread the word about the importance of employee engagement and well-being."

To pledge your support for National Employee Wellness Month and for more information and resources about workplace wellness, please visit www.nationalemployeewellnessmonth.com.

Participating companies and their employees are encouraged to share success stories via social media. Promote at least one employee health activity in your workplace this June, encourage your employees to share their inspirational health stories, and share your photos and videos on Facebook and Twitter (tweet to @HealthMiles, hashtag #NEWM2013).

This year, National Employee Wellness Month will kick off with a new challenge open to Proud Supporters across the country who want to promote a healthy, productive workforce and encourage employees to adopt healthy habits. Employers interested in participating in this year's challenge should pledge their support for National Employee Wellness Month and stay tuned for more details about this exciting competition.

ABOUT VIRGIN HEALTHMILES
Virgin HealthMiles, part of Sir Richard Branson's famed Virgin Group, provides programs and technologies that engage your workforce in good health. We offer a range of solutions and program integration capabilities that help employers drive higher awareness and engagement, and better measurement and insight into the impact of all your employee health investments. Our Pay-for-Prevention™ programs, based on physical activity and healthy lifestyle change, attract an average of 50 percent of employees who participate, which helps organizations reduce medical costs and improve employee productivity and satisfaction. Over 150 industry leaders representing more than 850,000 employees across the U.S. have selected Virgin HealthMiles' award-winning programs for their employees. Learn more at www.virginhealthmiles.com.