Wellness Program Nonparticipation and Its Association With Employee Turnover.

Purpose: This study examines the association between nonparticipation in wellness activities and employee turnover risk.

Design: Retrospective, cross-sectional analysis.

Setting: Large university in the Midwestern United States.

Participants: Employees with continuous employment during 2016 and complete human resources and wellness program data (n = 34 405).

Methods: Demographic, health risk assessment (HRA), and wellness program participation data were collected in 2016 and paired with administratively recorded turnover status from 2017. For the multivariate analyses, logistic regression models were used.

Results: There were statistically significant associations between various socioeconomic and demographic characteristics (gender, age, race, wage, union and faculty status, and health score) with turnover status. Also, all 3 participation levels (participated in the HRA only, participated in the HRA and wellness programming, and participated in wellness programming only) had lower odds of experiencing turnover compared to nonparticipants (participated in the HRA only [adjusted odds ratio, AOR: 0.89; confidence interval, CI: 0.80-0.99], participated in wellness program(s) only [AOR: 0.77; CI: 0.62-0.95] and participated in both the HRA and program(s) [AOR: 0.82; CI: 0.74-0.91], respectively).

Conclusion: Employee participation in wellness program activities appears to represent a measure of engagement with work. Nonparticipation in these programs is associated with increased risk of employment turnover in the subsequent year.