Employee perceptions of wellness programs in the hospitality industry

Purpose This study aims to examine the impacts of employee wellness programs on employee and organizational outcomes in the hospitality industry. Design/methodology/approach A survey was distributed on Amazon Mechanical Turk, targeting hospitality employees who have access to employee wellness programs. Descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling techniques were used. Findings Employee perceptions of wellness programs significantly impacted turnover intention, job stress (JS) and perceived organizational support (POS). POS had a significant mediating effect between employee perceptions of wellness programs and JS. Employee perceptions of wellness programs did not have a significant effect on emotional labor. Originality/value Employee wellness programs are often recommended to human resource managers, but there is little empirical evidence of their effects, particularly for hospitality industry employees. This study investigates the actual employee outcomes of employer-sponsored wellness programs.