Great job to everyone who is exercising over winter break! A total of 57 entries were submitted at the Kress Events Center from 28 employees who exercised there during week one of the Winter Break Fitness Challenge (January 2nd to January 8th). Kristine Coulter’s slip was picked for the week one drawing, so she can select a Wellness prize. Congratulations Kristine! The Winter Break Fitness Challenge lasts through January 22nd, so keep exercising! 🙂
Category: Wellness
2017 Well Wisconsin Incentive Through StayWell
Winter Break Fitness Challenge
Monday, January 3rd – Sunday, January 22nd
Whether you frequent the Kress or have yet to visit, NOW is your time to do so while working towards weekly prizes!
All Faculty/Staff have FREE UNLIMITED access to the Kress Events Center over the Winter Break time period.
To Participate:
- Visit the Kress during business hours and check-in at the front desk (campus ID and a second pair of shoes required)
- Ask the front desk attendant for an entry slip for the Faculty/Staff Winter Break Fitness Challenge.
- Complete the slip and give back to the front desk attendant to enter for the drawing. You will receive one entry slip each time you visit the Kress during the Winter Break Fitness Challenge.
All entry slips will be compiled by week for entry to a drawing:
Drawing Period Date of Drawing
Mon, 1/2 to Sun, 1/8 Monday, January 9th
Mon, 1/9 to Sun, 1/15 Monday, January 16th
Mon, 1/16 to Sun, 1/22 Monday, January 23rd
StayWell New Administrator for Well Wisconsin Program
Starting in January 2017, the State of Wisconsin Group Health Insurance Program will be contracting with StayWell to bring us the Well Wisconsin Program. The steps to earn the $150 incentive will be the same, but it’ll be easier to earn the incentive, and the deadline for submitting a request for the incentive will be moved up. More details will be mailed out in early 2017, including how to access the StayWell web-portal. The StayWell web-portal will contain the Well Wisconsin health survey, provider forms for health screenings, and resources and tools for getting and staying healthy.
Campus to Campus Challenge – Week Eight Results & Final Wrap Up
During week eight, 22 employees participated in the Campus to Campus Walking Challenge, and as a group we logged 1,330,008 steps. During week eight, we walked from Rome, Italy to Munich, Germany, and ended up at the Austrian border. During week eight, Ronald Kottnitz, Jayne Kluge, Lynn Rotter and Barb Tomashek-Ditter had the highest number of steps.
During the eight week challenge, 39 employees participated and we logged a total of 16,978,243 steps, which is about 8,489 miles! It would be like walking back and forth across the continental U.S. about 2.25 times, or walking around the perimeter of Wisconsin over 6 times! Great job team! Team members include Jenny Charapata, Patti Cole, Julie Flenz, Sam Goeller, Erica Grunseth, Brent Haack, Lindsay Hahn, Jamel Heim, Tim Helein, Beth Jones, Jayne Kluge, Ronald Kottnitz, Jeff Krueger, Amy Mauk, Kim Mezger, Karla Miller, Donna Mleziva, Lynn Niemi, Anna Powers, Sarah Pratt, Monika Pynaker, Loretta Rafter, Lynn Rotter, Nate Rusch, Joan Schaller, Lisa Schmelzer, Jeffery Schulz, Stephanie Shepro, Jill Siegmund, Karen Smiley, Tina Tackmier, Barb Tomashek-Ditter, Jolene Truckenbrod, Lea Truttmann, Erin Van Daalwyk, Tracy Van Erem, Kimberly Vlies, Amanda Wildenberg and Crystal Williams. Jayne Kluge had the highest number of steps with over a million steps logged during the eight weeks! She was followed closely by Ronald Kottnitz, Barb Tomashek-Ditter, Jeff Krueger, Lindsay Hahn, Jamel Heim and Lynn Rotter. Although we’ve reached the finish line of this challenge, we hope that everyone enjoys the long-term benefits of exercising! Keep going! 🙂
Wellness Webinar – Primary Prevention for a Healthy Back
Low back pain is one of the most common complaints seen in physician offices today and will pose problems for at least four out of five adults at some point in their lives. This condition represents the fifth most common reason for all doctors’ visits and will occur at least once in 85% of men and women before the age of 50. This presentation provides an overview of ergonomic principles and healthy lifestyle choices such as; being physically active and maintaining a healthy weight, to help individuals avoid experiencing back pain issues, relieve stress and discomfort caused by low back pain.
Learning Objectives:
- Defining the Lower Back
- Common Causes of Back Pain
- Explore Signs and Symptoms of Bank Pain
- Diagnosing the Treating Back Pain
- Back Pain Self-Care and Ergonomics
When: Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Time: 12:00 to 12:45 p.m.
Location: CL 735
Please mark your calendar to join us! No need to RSVP, and feel free to bring your lunch!
Campus to Campus Challenge – Week Seven Results
During week seven, 24 employees participated in the Campus to Campus Walking Challenge, and as a group we logged 1,675,360 steps. During week seven, we continued our trek across the french countryside to Paris, then to Zurich, Switzerland, and ended up in Rome, Italy!
Did you know the best way to lose weight by walking is to take a longer, moderately paced walk (40 minutes at 60-65% maximum heart rate). Shorter, faster walks (20-25 minutes at 75-80% maximum heart rate) are best for conditioning the heart and lungs.
During week seven, Jayne Kluge, Ron Kottnitz, Barb Tomashek-Ditter, Jamel Heim, and Jeff Krueger had the highest number of steps. Keep on exercising – your body will thank you! 🙂
Reminder: Health Plan Wellness Incentives Are Taxable
The State of Wisconsin extended a number of financial incentives to employees through the Well Wisconsin employee wellness program. If you are covered under the State of Wisconsin Group Health Insurance program, you are eligible for a financial incentive to complete biometric testing and health risk assessment. Depending on your health plan, you may also be eligible for financial reimbursements for wellness related expenses such as gym memberships, fitness classes, the cost to participate in Community Support Agriculture (CSA) programs and rewards for participating in health or wellness programs or challenges. You can learn more information about the benefits available to you by accessing wellwisconsin.wi.gov.
Per guidance from the federal government and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), these benefits are classified as taxable fringe benefits. This means that any financial incentive you receive from the program is taxable income for state and federal tax purposes.
What this means for you:
- Throughout 2016 financial incentives will be reported by your employer as a taxable wage and will be subject to applicable withholdings and taxes. You will see withholdings for all incentives issued in the current calendar year reflected on your December pay stub. This will include incentives issued to your eligible family members.
- Withholding will include 7.65% for Social Security and Medicare and may include withholding for federal and state taxes, depending on the number of exemptions you claimed on your W-4.
- Federal regulations requires the payroll center to receive financial data regarding incentives issued to employees and their covered family members. Your health information is protected by federal privacy regulations and is not shared with your employer.
- These taxable fringe amounts will be processed with the code: XHW (Tax Fr – Health/Wellness) earnings code.
Even with the federal government’s tax regulations, eligible employees are able to receive substantial financial rewards for using the wellness incentives offered by the State of Wisconsin and participating health plans. Benefits available through the Well Wisconsin program are also available to any dependent over the age of 18 who is covered by your State of Wisconsin insurance plan.
Please contact Human Resources at payrollandbenefits@uwgb.edu or ext. 2390 if you have any questions.
Campus to Campus Challenge – Week Six Results
During week six, 29 employees participated in the Campus to Campus Walking Challenge, and as a group we logged 1,893,719 steps! Since we crossed the continental United States during weeks three through five, we thought we’d try backpacking across Europe next! During week six, we walked from Lisbon, Portugal to Madrid, Spain, and are enjoying the french countryside as we make our way to Paris!
The average steps per team member per day was 9,329. Did you know the average steps per day for an American is 5,117, which is the least of any industrialized nation? Australians take 9,695 steps per day on average, so a little more than our team members!
During week six, Barb Tomashek-Ditter, Jayne Kluge, Lindsay Hahn, Jamel Heim and Ron Kottnitz had the highest number of steps. Great job team – hope you can find creative ways to stay active even though the weather has turned quite chilly!
Campus to Campus Challenge – Week Five Results
During week five, 28 employees participated in the Campus to Campus Walking Challenge, and as a group we logged 2,042,512 steps! During week five, we walked from Charleston, West Virginia to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to New York City to the beautiful Acadia National Park in Maine – right on the rocky coast of the Atlantic Ocean! So, it took us three weeks to walk from coast to coast!
Can’t find a full 30 minutes to walk? Spread it out throughout your day- 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there will add up if you stick with it. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, breaking your workout into several shorter workouts throughout the day is just as effective as one longer workout session, while also making it easier to fit into your schedule.
The average steps per team member per day was 10,421. During week five, Jayne Kluge, Jeff Krueger, Barb Tomashek-Ditter, Jamel Heim and Lynn Rotter had the highest number of steps. Two weeks to go – where should we walk to next?