According to the Chicago News Cooperative, Mayer Rahm Emmanuel’s administration is close to a deal with the labor unions that aims to cut the annual $500 million tab for employee health costs.

A key component of the deal would be that employees would be required to participate in their employee wellness program or see their own personal health costs rise by $50 per month.  From the article:

An agreement on a wellness plan also would be a rare bit of good news on the labor relations front for a mayor who has unsuccessfully demanded concessions from city worker unions, threatened to lay off hundreds of workers imminently and clashed with teachers’ union officials over his push for a longer school day.

On Wednesday, the wellness program agreement was sent to city union leaders, who are expected to give their final approval as early as this week.

So it looks like Chicago and the unions are primarily utilizing the “sticks” approach to incent greater employee wellness program participation. What does everyone think?  Is that a sound approach?  And will it work to improve employee health and ultimately cut costs?

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