A sample employee wellness program should show the goal, who can take part, who owns each task, how employees can participate, what privacy limits apply, what it costs, and how the team will review it. Start with one 30-day test rather than a crowded annual calendar.
The plan below is built for a fictional 100-person company. Copy it, replace the bracketed fields, and adjust it for your workplace. It is a planning example, not legal, medical, benefits, privacy, or accommodation advice.
Quick answer: what the sample includes
A useful small program needs seven fields:
- One goal: the practical experience the company wants to improve.
- Eligible audience: who can join and whether participation is voluntary.
- Named owners: one person responsible for each task.
- Accessible participation routes: options for different roles, schedules, locations, languages, and abilities.
- A short activity schedule: enough choice to be useful, without adding noise.
- A clear budget: cash costs and staff time shown separately.
- A review plan: participation, access, employee feedback, and the next decision.
CCOHS recommends defining objectives and the audience, learning what employees need, assigning ownership, planning communication, and evaluating the program. The CDC Workplace Health Model organizes the work into assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation. Review the CCOHS planning steps and the CDC model.
If you want the recurring activity layer handled, see Fegud for Teams, start a 7-day free trial, or book a demo. You can also preview the shared-play format through The Break Room and review a sample report.
Copyable program summary and blank fields
Here is the completed example first.
| Field | Fictional 100-person company example |
|---|---|
| Program goal | Give employees a low-pressure way to try one small wellness activity each workday for 30 days. |
| Eligible audience | All eligible employees across in-office, hybrid, remote, deskless, and shift roles. Participation is voluntary. |
| Program owner | People Operations Manager |
| Supporting owners | Internal Communications Lead, two employee volunteers, HRIS or roster contact, and IT contact for access issues |
| Employee input | Five-question optional survey plus one open comment field before launch |
| Activity format | A small menu across Movement, Nutrition, Connection, and Mindset, with non-digital alternatives |
| Communication | Announcement on day 1, one reminder on day 8, one midpoint note on day 15, and a closing note on day 30 |
| Privacy limit | No individual health information, diagnoses, activity histories, or manager-level participation lists in the program report |
| Budget cap | $1,200 in this fictional example, plus staff time tracked separately |
| Review date | Day 30, with a decision meeting during the following week |
Copy these blank fields into your own plan:
- Program goal: [one sentence]
- Eligible audience: [who can participate]
- Voluntary participation statement: [plain-language sentence]
- Program owner: [name or role]
- Supporting owners: [task and role]
- Employee input method: [survey, listening session, suggestion form, or another route]
- Activity format: [what employees can choose and how they access it]
- Access alternatives: [deskless, shift, remote, language, disability, and low-tech routes]
- Communication dates: [dates and channels]
- Privacy limits: [what will not be collected or reported]
- Budget cap: [cash amount] plus [staff-time estimate]
- Review measures: [participation, access, feedback, and decision]
Before day one: goal, employee input, ownership, access, and privacy
Keep the starting question narrow. For example: “Can employees across our work models access and use a voluntary 30-day activity program?” That is easier to review than “Did wellness improve?”
Ask employees what would make the test usable. A short set of employee wellness survey questions can cover formats, timing, access barriers, and activity preferences. Keep it optional and avoid personal health questions.
Then assign the work. One person owns the program. Others can own the roster, communications, access support, and final report. “HR team” is not an owner. A role and date are.
Check each delivery route before launch. Deskless employees may need a QR code or another approved non-desk route. Shift workers may miss a live kickoff. Employees may also need language, format, or ability-based alternatives. Name those routes without requesting unnecessary personal information.
Days 1 to 7: launch one small voluntary test
Day 1: Send the invitation. State the goal, dates, voluntary nature, time expectation, access routes, support contact, and what data will be reported.
Days 2 to 3: Watch for access problems. Fix broken links, missing roster entries, unclear eligibility, and delivery gaps before adding more reminders.
Days 4 to 5: Offer a small activity menu, such as a short stretch, preparing a snack, checking in with a coworker, or taking a quiet pause. Do not require extra proof.
Days 6 to 7: Review support questions. If the same question appears twice, answer it once for everyone. Do not change the rules midweek unless the original setup is blocking fair access.
Days 8 to 21: keep choices visible without adding noise
Day 8: Send one useful reminder with the access link and two activity examples. Skip guilt, rankings, and “everyone else has joined” language.
Days 9 to 14: Keep the menu stable. If an option does not fit a role or work setting, offer an equivalent rather than treating it as a failed task.
Day 15: Share a midpoint note. Repeat the voluntary participation statement, point to support, and ask one optional question: “What would make the remaining two weeks easier to use?”
Days 16 to 21: Address the clearest access issue, such as a printed route, translated instructions, a later shift reminder, or a quieter activity choice.
Fegud is a B2B corporate wellness platform built around monthly self-care bingo challenges. Fegud for Teams provides voluntary monthly activities across Movement, Nutrition, Connection, and Mindset. You can start a 7-day free trial or book a demo.
See the Fegud employee app in action
This 39-second preview shows what the recurring employee activity layer in the sample plan can look like.
Watch the full Fegud mobile app tour.
Days 22 to 30: review participation and employee feedback
Days 22 to 28: Keep the program open and consistent. Do not add a last-minute contest that changes the experience you intended to review.
Day 29: Close the optional feedback form. Ask about access, clarity, usefulness, activity choice, and one change employees would make.
Day 30: Capture participation, access issues, support questions, and feedback themes. Participation shows use under your stated definition. It does not prove a health, productivity, retention, absence, or financial outcome.
Use a wellness program participation report template to keep the eligible population, qualifying action, denominator, and reporting period visible. Then choose one of three decisions: continue, revise and retest, or stop.
Sample budget and responsibility table
The amounts below are fictional planning figures, not market benchmarks.
| Line | Fictional amount | Owner | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| Activity platform or materials | $600 | People Operations | Before day 1 |
| Translation and accessible formats | $250 | Internal Communications | Before day 1 |
| Printing and shared-space materials | $100 | Office or Site Lead | Before day 1 |
| Optional recognition or team item | $150 | People Operations | Day 21 |
| Contingency | $100 | Program owner | As needed |
| Cash total | $1,200 | Program owner | Final review |
| Staff time | [track hours separately] | Each task owner | Weekly |
Replace each amount with a quote, approved internal figure, or zero. Do not hide staff time inside a “free” program. If the budget needs its own planning model, use the separate employee wellbeing budget template.
How to adapt the plan for 25, 100, or 500 employees
Around 25 employees: One program owner and one backup may be enough. Employee input can be a short survey plus a team discussion. Protect voluntariness in a small group, where participation can be easy to infer.
Around 100 employees: Add named owners for communications, roster access, and support. Check whether office, hybrid, remote, shift, and deskless groups receive the same usable invitation.
Around 500 employees: Use a central owner plus local contacts. Standardize the core rules, dates, privacy limits, and reporting definitions. Let sites adapt delivery routes without changing what counts as participation halfway through the test.
Sector, location, language, schedules, technology access, and the work itself may matter more than company size.
What belongs in separate communication, survey, budget, and report documents
Keep the program plan short. Move the detailed work into the right owner document:
- Program plan: goal, audience, roles, activity format, access, dates, privacy limits, budget cap, and review decision.
- Communication plan: exact messages, senders, channels, dates, reminders, and support instructions.
- Survey: employee input and optional feedback questions.
- Budget: quotes, approved amounts, staff time, and payment owners.
- Participation report: definitions, counts, denominators, access notes, feedback themes, and next actions.
If you are still deciding how the pieces fit, start with the guide on how to start a corporate wellness program, then return here for the 30-day test.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should an employee wellness program include?
Include one clear goal, an eligible audience, voluntary participation, named owners, employee input, accessible ways to join, a short schedule, privacy limits, a budget, and a review plan.
How long should a small wellness pilot run?
Thirty days is long enough to test access, communication, activity choice, and reporting without committing to a full annual calendar. It is a practical planning period, not a universal standard.
How can participation stay voluntary?
Say that participation is voluntary in the invitation and reminders. Avoid pressure from managers, forced public sharing, participation-based employment consequences, or reporting that identifies individuals.
What should HR measure after 30 days?
Measure the eligible population, confirmed reach, the agreed participation action, access problems, support questions, optional feedback, and the next decision. Keep participation separate from health or business outcomes.
How should a small company adapt the sample?
Use fewer owners, but keep the responsibilities explicit. Be especially careful with privacy because a small group can make individual activity easier to infer.
What privacy limits belong in the plan?
State what data the program needs and what it will not collect. Keep diagnoses, personal health details, individual activity histories, and manager-level participant lists out unless a separately reviewed business and legal basis requires them.
What belongs in the communication plan instead?
Put exact messages, senders, channels, dates, reminders, support instructions, and escalation routes in the communication plan. The program plan should list the communication milestones without becoming a message library.
Copy the plan
Copy the plan, replace the fictional fields, and keep the first test small. If monthly self-care bingo fits the activity layer you want, review Fegud for Teams, start a 7-day free trial, or book a demo.
