EEOC Rescinds Incentive Provisions of Wellness Regulations

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued two final rules that remove the incentive provisions it had set forth in its 2016 wellness regulations under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act.

These provisions had offered guidance on the use of and limits on such incentives to encourage employee participation in wellness programs that pose medical inquiries or require medical examinations. In August 2017, a federal court held that the EEOC had failed to provide sufficient justification for the incentive limits, and the court then subsequently vacated those provisions, effective January 1, 2019, as we discussed in our December 2017 E-Update.