Employer-sponsored wellness programs are becoming more popular as companies strive to maintain a healthy and productive work force and soften the financial impact of absenteeism. U.S. employers view improved productivity and reduced absenteeism behind only lower health care costs as their primary motivation for making wellness a workplace priority, according to a Managed Care magazine survey that encompassed 466 companies with a mean of 12,500 employees.

“The heightened global focus on improving productivity is a significant trend,” says Barry Hall, a Buck Consultants principal who directed a recent global wellness survey. “Business leaders around the world are increasingly recognizing the financial value of healthier workers and the need to better engage employees in reducing their health risks.”

Absenteeism resulted in an estimated $60 billion in lost productivity for U.S. companies in 2008, according to a report by Kalorama Information.

Common conditions leading to absenteeism – or presenteeism, a productivity decline attributed to health – include obesity (and oftentimes complications from diabetes), headaches, allergies, arthritis, asthma, hypertension and heart disease, stress and mental health-related problems such as depression. Co-morbidities – employees with multiple chronic health conditions – have the biggest impact on productivity loss.

“Presenteeism is worse than a high absenteeism rate, for two reasons,” says Bruce Carlson, of Kalorama Information. “Sick employees can spread contagious disease to other employees and multiply productivity loss. And they can make mistakes when they are not at the top of their game.”

For companies interested in improving the health of their work force, there are numerous examples to follow. A sampling: