Wellness programs often gather health results — such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes — through voluntary health risk assessments (HRAs) or voluntary biometric screenings. If you already provide a notice that tells your employees what information will be collected, who will receive it, how it will be used, and how it will be kept confidential, you may not have to provide a separate notice under the ADA. However, if your existing notice does not provide all of this information, or if it is not easily understood by employees, then you must provide a separate ADA notice that sets forth this information in a manner that is reasonably likely to be understood by your employees.

The EEOC published a sample notice to help employers comply with this requirement, and it is available at https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/regulations/ada-wellness-notice.cfm.

Source: Final Rule: Regulations Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, 81 FR 31126, May 17, 2016, applicable January 1, 2017; Employee Benefits Management Newsletter, No. 625, January 11, 2017.