The logic is simple: Healthier employees are cheaper employees.

As Colorado companies look to tighten their belts in this tough economy, some are turning to wellness initiatives they hope will improve the lives of their employees as well as cut costs.

Kelly Esselman, a human resources specialist for the Denver-based Mountain States Employers Council, said she gets calls daily from the council's more- than 3,000 members asking how they can lower their health insurance costs.

"We get a lot of phone calls asking, 'What can I do? I want to do this,' " Esselman said. "We get a lot of phone calls where employers are trying to be creative."

But creativity has its limits. State and federal laws restrict what employers can and can't do. For example, it's against Colorado law to fire an employee who smokes, Esselman said. It's also illegal for companies to offer stipends to an employee who enrolls on his or her spouse's insurance plans instead of their own, she said.

And yet, Esselman said, employers regularly ask her if those types of measures are on the up-and-up. Instead, she said she tries to steer them toward more proactive - and legal - solutions, such as offering free preventive care screenings, a benefit many companies have added.

"It's getting employers to think of, what are wellness things I can do that have long-lasting sustainable results?" Esselman said.

Using carrots, not sticks

Globus Family of Brands, a travel company in Littleton, is going the wellness route. Latisha Deden, of the company's human resources department, said Globus plans to kick off a fitness program this week called Get Fit on Route 66 that will reward employees with prizes, such as exercise equipment and iPods, for working out 20 minutes a day.

The program will run for eight weeks, she said. For every minute employees exercise, they earn a mile on a map of Route 66. If they work out 100 minutes a week, they should be able to finish in time, Deden said.

"Our No. 1 goal is to bring costs down," Deden said.

She said Globus decided to start the program after noticing that many of its 300 employees were seeing doctors and taking drugs for diabetes and high blood pressure, which are linked to obesity.

"So we thought, let's get people moving and eating healthier," Deden said.

The company also plans to start a stair-climbing club tied to Colorado's Fourteeners that will encourage employees to climb their building's three stories during 15-minute breaks, Deden said.

If Globus, which spent $2.5 million on health care in 2007, can cut its yearly cost increases to 3 percent from 6 percent, Deden said she'd consider the wellness initiatives a success.

Safeway's approach

Safeway knows it can be done. The California-based grocery chain reduced its health care costs by 15 percent between 2005 and 2007 by offering incentives to healthy employees, said Kris Staaf, director of public affairs for five states, including Colorado.

The company's newest initiative is called Healthy Measures, Staaf said. It offers nonunion employees a discount of up to $1,000 a year on their premiums if they're tobacco-free, have good blood pressure and aren't overweight.

Staaf said Safeway started the program because studies show that the majority of health care costs are "behavior-driven."

"It puts the control in the employees' hands," she said.

Like most of Safeway's programs, Healthy Measures is for nonunion employees only. In Colorado, that's 2,000 of the company's 9,000 workers and includes managers and corporate employees.

Safeway also offers discounted gym memberships to all employees and maintains a 24-hour hotline where nonunion workers can seek medical advice, Staaf said. The idea behind the hotline, she said, is to prevent people from making expensive visits to the emergency room when they suspect a problem such as strep throat.

The company also recently launched a service called CareConnect, which helps union and nonunion employees, and their spouses, who have been diagnosed with breast or prostate cancer.

Employees are given a personal health adviser who walks them through treatment - and hopefully helps them avoid missteps.

"Healthier employees and driving down costs - that's what we need to do to survive as a company," Staaf said.

24-hour fitness in Pueblo

Evraz Rocky Mountain Steel, the steel mill in Pueblo that employs 1,100 workers, also has a host of programs to keep employees healthy, said Bob Schwetje, director of human resources.

The mill - which operates all day, every day - has a free on-site fitness center that never closes, he said. In one corner, employees can check their blood pressure and read about diabetes and cancer prevention. A doctor from the nearby hospital stops by regularly to do 30-minute individual consultations on how to quit smoking.

For those trying to lose weight, the mill pays for half the cost of Weight Watchers, Schwetje said. It also offers free flu shots.

Most of the initiatives began in the past five years, and Schwetje said there was some resistance to them at first. Eighty-five percent of the mill's workers are men - and men can be more hesitant to try things like tobacco cessation programs, he said.

"It's breaking that habit," Schwetje said. "That tough-guy thing."

But now, he said, about half of the participants in Weight Watchers are men and more than 300 employees got a free flu shot this year. In the past five months, 60 people have tried to quit smoking.

Schwetje said it's hard to quantify how much money the wellness initiatives have saved, and he said the company doesn't publicize how much it spends on health care. The main goal, he said, is to get employees to take responsibility for themselves.

"We're willing to invest the money," he said, "and hopefully you get a return."

But not all businesses have money to invest. Those with fewer funds have turned to low- or no-cost initiatives, such as lunch-hour walking clubs and vending machines stocked with trail mix.

Healthier choices

Buffalo Supply, a medical equipment supplier in Lafayette, keeps fresh fruits and vegetables on hand to satisfy employees' snack cravings. Kara Parker, vice president of human resources and finance, said the company started a few years ago after noticing most employees munched on candy.

"We figure if people are healthier, there are fewer sick days," Parker said, even if it's tough to calculate the exact financial effects of apples and carrot sticks.

Another of Buffalo Supply's initiatives - offering a health savings account in addition to more traditional insurance plans - has definitely paid off, saving the small company about 20 percent on health care costs during the first year it was offered, Parker said.

But yet another proposal will have to wait. As Buffalo Supply laid off half of its 30 employees last year because of a slowing economy, plans for an on-site gym were put off, Parker said, a consequence of the same economic circumstances motivating the company to try to save money.

DOS AND DON'TS

Peg McHugh, human resource consultant for Mountain States Employers Council, offers some do's and don't's for employers looking to improve employee health:

* Colorado law prohibits firing an employee who smokes, but you can promote being tobacco-free with smoking cessation programs or incentives and rewards for nonsmokers.

* When interviewing a potential employee, "the overarching guideline is to focus your questions on what is job-related. Don't get into personal questions or questions that could be discriminatory. You can have employees go through a drug test, but you don't ask on an application, 'Are you a drug user?' "

* It is illegal for companies to offer stipends> to employees who enroll on their spouse's insurance plans instead of their own.

* Preventive health screenings, fitness programs with awards and prizes, free on-site fitness centers, discounted gym memberships and free flu shots are creative - and legal - ways to encourage employee health.

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