The City of Grand Junction has earned recognition for efforts to promote the health and wellness of employees.

The city was named a Certified Healthy Workplace Leader. Health Links, a program of the Center for Health, Work & Environment at the Colorado School of Public Health, awards the designation.

“This is an honor for our organization to receive this designation, and it really speaks to the hard work our human resources personnel, as well as our employees, have put into making health and wellness a priority,” said Grand Junction City Manager Greg Caton.

The Certified Healthy Workplace Leader designation is the highest offered by Health Links, recognizing organizations that demonstrate commitment and dedicate resources to workplace wellness. The recognition is based on the results of a workplace assessment and online questionnaire. Health Links not only conducts the assessment, but also provides assistance and resources to help organizations promote health and safety.

The city was recognized for leadership support, resources dedicated to wellness programs and a wellness committee that promotes a healthy workplace culture.

The city offers a wellness program to full-time, part-time and seasonal employees that includes health benefits as well as covers biometric screening, mental health, nutrition, physical activities and stress management.

Employees have participated in a range of wellness program activities, including an advance directive class, blood drive, chair massages, hiking group, various challenges and onsite yoga classes.

“Wellness is such an important workplace foundation because not only does it touch employee health, it also affects productivity and morale, which in turn impacts our success in providing customer service to the community,” Caton said. “This is a designation all city employees can take pride in.”