Already in 1986, Allegrantte and Sloan discussed how workplace health promotion may pose ethical problems. In 1987, Gordon presented her doubts on health promotion at the workplace and described that trust is an essential ingredient for successful health promotion. The debate still continues to what extent employers are entitled to interfere with the lifestyle and health of their workers. Where does undue interference begin? In this context, little information is available on the opinion of employees regarding WHP.

Within the framework of a WHP program, we have investigated moral considerations among workers in relation to WHP offered by their employer. Methods Study design Semaxanib and population The study is embedded in a larger study in which we investigated the effectiveness of a WHP program consisting of a physical health check with subsequent advice, and a website with general information, individualized advice and for the intervention group possibilities to ask questions and to monitor their own behavior. An extensive description of the study protocol is published elsewhere (Robroek et al. 2007). Employees working in six companies from different branches were invited to participate in the study. Participants received a questionnaire asking for individual characteristics, lifestyle,

and health. A sample of 860 non-participants in the health care organizations this website (n = 2) and all non-participants in the commercial services organizations (n = 2) and in the executive branch of government (n = 1) received an abbreviated version of the questionnaire. In the other organization in the executive branch of government (n = 1), non-respondents were not invited to fill in the questionnaire because the program was initiated in the holiday period and communicated in a very limited way, and only 200 workers were allowed to participate. Therefore, most workers in that organization were unaware of the program. HSP90 Due

to privacy regulations, the questionnaire was send out only once without any reminders. In total, 213 employees out of 860 non-participants responded (24.8%). Moral considerations Non-participants were asked why they did not participate, with multiple responses possible. In addition, both participants and non-participants were asked to indicate on a 5-point scale ranging from “totally disagree” to “totally agree” to what extent they agree with five statements addressing their opinion on WHP (Table 1). Table 1 Answers of participants (P) and non-participants (NP) on five statements addressing their opinion on WHP Statement Disagree (%) Neutral (%) Agree (%) P NP P NP P NP 1. A healthy lifestyle is important for me 2.1 1.0 8.0 7.7 89.9 91.3 2. My lifestyle is a personal matter 13.1 11.7 16.4 23.4 70.6 64.9 3.