Beyond Behavior Change: Creating Psychologically Safe Workplaces Through Social Determinants of Wellness and Antibullying Strategies

Free to Wellness Alliance members.

Traditional workplace wellness programs often focus on individual behavior change—such as weight-loss challenges, tobacco surcharges and biometric screenings—but this approach carries significant legal risks and frequently overlooks the most critical factor in employee well-being: workplace culture.

Join wellness law expert Barbara Zabawa and workplace bullying survivor and advocate Andy Regal, author of the forthcoming book Surviving Bully Culture, for a groundbreaking conversation that reimagines wellness strategy from both legal compliance and human-dignity perspectives. Moving beyond paternalistic, incentive-based programs can improve employee health outcomes and reduce legal risk.

This session explores how addressing social determinants of wellness (e.g., removing socioeconomic barriers, eliminating workplace harassment) leads to a more effective wellness strategy. Andy will share insights from his decades-long career as a media executive who experienced workplace bullying firsthand, revealing how toxic work cultures systematically undermine wellness initiatives. We'll examine the intersection of wellness law, ERISA compliance, ADA requirements and antibullying advocacy to chart a path toward workplace wellness programs that prioritize dignity, psychological safety and equitable access to well-being resources over coercive behavior modification.

Whether you're an HR professional, a benefits administrator, legal counsel, or a wellness program designer, you'll leave with concrete strategies to build compliant, effective, and compassionate wellness initiatives that actually support employee flourishing..

Learning Objectives:

• Identify legal risks in traditional wellness programs and safer alternatives.
• Connect workplace bullying to wellness outcomes and legal compliance.
• Design equity-centered wellness programs that prioritize dignity over data.

Continuing Education (CE) Credit

This webinar is preapproved for 1.0 CE credit(s) for: CWP, NCHEC and SHRM.

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  Andrew Regal

  Media Executive and Author

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  Barbara Zabawa, J.D., M.P.H.

  Attorney/Owner

  Wellness Law, LLC