Five years ago, 3form, a materials manufacturer, did a top-to-bottom remodel of its Salt Lake City headquarters campus that included adding a 14,500-sf gym, which was built with the company’s sustainable building products.
3form also instituted a policy that employees who used the gym and complied with certain health metrics would qualify for discounts on their monthly payroll contributions for healthcare coverage. In December 2018, 3form had saved so much money on healthcare costs as a result of this program that it was able to offer its employers free coverage for that month.
The savings equaled 8.3% of the workers’ gross pay in December.
Talley Goodson and Wynn Clayton, 3form’s CEO and CFO, “saw that something was happening on the horizon” about increasing healthcare costs when they approved the investment for the gym, says Christian Darby, the company’s Vice President of Design and Marketing. They took a “holistic approach” whose goal was to improve the overall health of 3form’s workforce, while controlling healthcare costs.
As of December the company employed 382 people and had a total of 909 covered under its healthcare plan. Family members can use the gym, which offers 24/7 access. The facility has eight contracted personal trainers whose jobs include evaluating the gym’s equipment each year for functionality and usage.
Beyond the gym, 3form provides its workers with an onsite doctors’ office for medical appointments, as well as blood tests and prescription refills. Services include follow-up care and counseling in the office or via telephone.
Darby says 3form has had the same healthcare provider for the past four years and into 2019. The company raised its employees’ payroll deduction for healthcare by only 3% in 2018—compared to the national average of 10-12%—and is not increasing that deduction for coverage in 2019.
Darby says participating employees are required to check in with the company’s clinic four times a year, during which 3form’s medical staff might suggest health “opportunities” for employees or their family members to pursue.
To get the discounts on premiums, employees must participate in a Health Risk Assessment to see if they fall outside of established standards for cholesterol, body mass, diabetes, asthma, hypertension, health of mind, eating habits, stress level, or tobacco use. If so, they enter a program and engage in a process that can include taking prescribed medicine or meeting with medical professionals.
In Darby’s case, the med staff found that his cholesterol was “a tad high,” he says, and established targets and a strategy to help lower it.
Related Stories
Office Buildings | Jan 26, 2015
Seattle gets a peek at Amazon’s latest plans for its downtown complex
The online retailer is seeking permits to build on a fourth city block that would include 835,200 sf of office space.
| Jan 14, 2015
10 change management practices that can ease workplace moves
No matter the level of complexity, workplace change can be a challenge for your client's employees. VOA's Angie Lee breaks down the process of moving offices as efficiently as possible, from creating a "change team" to hosting hard-hat tours.
| Jan 13, 2015
SOM-designed Broadgate Exchange House wins Twenty-five Year Award
Exchange House, an elegant 10-story office building that spans over the merging tracks of London’s Liverpool Street Station, is located in London’s Broadgate Development.
| Jan 9, 2015
10 surprising lessons Perkins+Will has learned about workplace projects
P+W's Janice Barnes shares some of most unexpected lessons from her firm's work on office design projects, including the importance of post-occupancy evaluations and having a cohesive transition strategy for workers.
| Jan 9, 2015
Technology and media tenants, not financial companies, fill up One World Trade Center
The financial sector has almost no presence in the new tower, with creative and media companies, such as magazine publisher Conde Nast, dominating the vast majority of leased space.
| Jan 8, 2015
The future of alternative work spaces: open-access markets, co-working, and in-between spaces
During the past five years, people have begun to actively seek out third places not just to get a day’s work done, but to develop businesses of a new kind and establish themselves as part of a real-time conversation of diverse entrepreneurs, writes Gensler's Shawn Gehle.
Smart Buildings | Jan 7, 2015
Best practices for urban infill development: Embrace the region's character, master the pedestrian experience
If an urban building isn’t grounded in the local region’s character, it will end up feeling generic and out-of-place. To do urban infill the right way, it’s essential to slow down and pay proper attention to the context of an urban environment, writes GS&P's Joe Bucher.
| Jan 6, 2015
Construction permits exceeded $2 billion in Minneapolis in 2014
Two major projects—a new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings NFL team and the city’s Downtown East redevelopment—accounted for about half of the total worth of the permits issued.
| Jan 2, 2015
Construction put in place enjoyed healthy gains in 2014
Construction consultant FMI foresees—with some caveats—continuing growth in the office, lodging, and manufacturing sectors. But funding uncertainties raise red flags in education and healthcare.
| Dec 28, 2014
Robots, drones, and printed buildings: The promise of automated construction
Building Teams across the globe are employing advanced robotics to simplify what is inherently a complex, messy process—construction.
