--- title: "EEOC REQUIRED TO FURTHER REVIEW WELLNESS PROGRAM REGULATIONS" description: "" url: "https://wimlaw.com/publications/newsletters/october-2017/eeoc-required-review-wellness" date: "2026-07-01T00:42:12+00:00" language: "en-US" --- # EEOC REQUIRED TO FURTHER REVIEW WELLNESS PROGRAM REGULATIONS Written on November 14, 2017. Employer wellness programs have become increasingly popular in recent years as a device that might be a "win-win" to reduce health care costs, improve employee health and productivity, and also show that the company is interested in the well-being of its employees. However, wellness programs (including those which require medical examinations before allowing employees to participate) are often challenged by plaintiffs groups as violating the Americans’ With Disabilities Act (ADA) or other federal laws. The AARP recently challenged the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) wellness program regulations, as to whether a program is truly voluntary if employees must choose between receiving up to a 30% decrease in health insurance premiums or providing their family’s personal health information to their employer. The AARP contends that the regulations permit companies to penalize workers who do not join wellness programs because they are opposed to sharing their medical information with their employer. The EEOC issued the regulations following a 2013 case involving Honeywell International, Inc., which found a violation in such situations, and following passage of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, which encourages the use of wellness programs. Both the ADA and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) restrict employers from collecting medical or genetic information from their employees, but allows some collection in wellness programs as long as the information is voluntarily provided by the employee. As neither statute specifically defines voluntary participation, the rules established in 2016 set forth specific criteria. The AARP sued to block the rules from taking effect and, in a ruling in late August, the AARP won a pre-trial judgment in a challenge to the rules, the court finding the EEOC had not sufficiently explained its rationale for its criteria. *AARP v. EEOC*, 2017 WL 3614430 (D.D.C. 8/22/17). The court instructed the EEOC to reconsider them but denied AARP’s request to vacate the rules, saying that such actions would throw the legality of many wellness programs into question. Thus, for the present time employers are allowed to take advantage of the EEOC wellness program regulations while EEOC is reviewing the status. - [](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwimlaw.com%2Fpublications%2Fnewsletters%2Foctober-2017%2Feeoc-required-review-wellness.md&text=) - [](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwimlaw.com%2Fpublications%2Fnewsletters%2Foctober-2017%2Feeoc-required-review-wellness.md) - [](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwimlaw.com%2Fpublications%2Fnewsletters%2Foctober-2017%2Feeoc-required-review-wellness.md) - [](mailto:?subject=EEOC%20REQUIRED%20TO%20FURTHER%20REVIEW%20WELLNESS%20PROGRAM%20REGULATIONS) ## Related Content ## Get Email Updates Receive newsletters and alerts directly in your email inbox. Sign up below. ## Recent Content [ October 2017 ](https://wimlaw.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=152) [ ![Palmyra, Syria](https://wimlaw.com/media/yootheme/cache/08/wietse-jongsma-r64OA1htFT4-unsplash-083a2a18.jpg) ](https://wimlaw.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1595:tps-scotus-government-change-status-haitians-syrians&catid=52)### [TPS Update – Supreme Court Rules Government Can Terminate TPS Status for Haitians and Syrians](https://wimlaw.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1595:tps-scotus-government-change-status-haitians-syrians&catid=52) [Alerts](https://wimlaw.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=52) On Thursday, June 25, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled that federal courts cannot review any determination of the Secretary of Homeland Securi… [Read more](https://wimlaw.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1595:tps-scotus-government-change-status-haitians-syrians&catid=52) [ ![thermometer](https://wimlaw.com/media/yootheme/cache/ad/immo-wegmann-V2AMRkAUCnA-unsplash-ad4ba5dd.jpg) ](https://wimlaw.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1592:osha-extends-its-heat-program&catid=53)### [OSHA Extends Its Heat Program](https://wimlaw.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1592:osha-extends-its-heat-program&catid=53) [Employment Law Newsletter: A Monthly Report On Labor Law Issues](https://wimlaw.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=53) Although there is no federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) heat rule, OSHA still issues heat citations under its Gen… [Read more](https://wimlaw.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1592:osha-extends-its-heat-program&catid=53) [ ![Marijuana](https://wimlaw.com/media/yootheme/cache/a4/matthew-brodeur-qcCPIhhdgTw-unsplash-a402de11.jpg) ](https://wimlaw.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1593:reclassified-marijuana-prescription&catid=53)### [New Order Reclassifies Some Marijuana Products Available by Prescription](https://wimlaw.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1593:reclassified-marijuana-prescription&catid=53) [Employment Law Newsletter: A Monthly Report On Labor Law Issues](https://wimlaw.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=53) On April 23, 2026, a final Order was issued reclassifying FDA-approved medications that contain marijuana authorized pursuant to a state an… [Read more](https://wimlaw.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1593:reclassified-marijuana-prescription&catid=53) [ ![white house lawn](https://wimlaw.com/media/yootheme/cache/b0/rene-deanda-zfKlCKK-Ql0-unsplash-b043b386.jpg) ](https://wimlaw.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1589:eeoc-guidance-on-2026-eeo-1-reports&catid=53)### [EEOC Guidance on 2026 EEO-1 Reports](https://wimlaw.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1589:eeoc-guidance-on-2026-eeo-1-reports&catid=53) [Employment Law Newsletter: A Monthly Report On Labor Law Issues](https://wimlaw.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=53) There has been a lot of confusion about the 2026 filing of EEO-1 reports, also known as Standard Form 100. According to a notice of an EEO… [Read more](https://wimlaw.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1589:eeoc-guidance-on-2026-eeo-1-reports&catid=53) [ ![ai robot, table](https://wimlaw.com/media/yootheme/cache/52/alex-de-koning-kCHpIzDmEmU-unsplash-52db93d5.jpg) ](https://wimlaw.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1590:advice-ai-employment-matters&catid=53)### [Further Developments and Advice Using AI for Employment Matters](https://wimlaw.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1590:advice-ai-employment-matters&catid=53) [Employment Law Newsletter: A Monthly Report On Labor Law Issues](https://wimlaw.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=53) In last month’s newsletter, we discussed a federal case from New York which held that an individual’s artificial intelligence-generated doc… [Read more](https://wimlaw.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1590:advice-ai-employment-matters&catid=53) [ ![ai visualization](https://wimlaw.com/media/yootheme/cache/45/milad-fakurian-5yWtM3M3JKM-unsplash-45306e6d.jpg) ](https://wimlaw.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1588:eeoc-bathroom-exclusion-trans-employees&catid=53)### [EEOC Upholds Bathroom Exclusion for Trans-sexual Employee](https://wimlaw.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1588:eeoc-bathroom-exclusion-trans-employees&catid=53) [Employment Law Newsletter: A Monthly Report On Labor Law Issues](https://wimlaw.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=53) Employers are struggling with how to handle trans-sexual employees who choose to use the bathroom of their gender choice, rather than their… [Read more](https://wimlaw.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1588:eeoc-bathroom-exclusion-trans-employees&catid=53) ### Additional Legal Resources [### Newsletter Explore ](https://wimlaw.com/publications/newsletters) [### Books Explore ](https://wimlaw.com/publications/books) [### Alerts Explore ](https://wimlaw.com/alerts) [### Articles Explore ](https://wimlaw.com/articles) [### Audits Explore ](https://wimlaw.com/audits) [### Events Explore ](https://wimlaw.com/events) ## Schema ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://wimlaw.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Publications", "item": "https://wimlaw.com/publications" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Newsletters", "item": "https://wimlaw.com/publications/newsletters" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "October 2017", "item": "https://wimlaw.com/publications/newsletters/october-2017" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "name": "EEOC REQUIRED TO FURTHER REVIEW WELLNESS PROGRAM REGULATIONS", "item": "https://wimlaw.com/publications/newsletters/october-2017/eeoc-required-review-wellness" } ] } ```