Corporate Social Responsibility or Corporate Social Control? A mapping and discussion of corporate health promotion in Denmark

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs, initiatives and activities are by now an integrated part of doing business, and today, the majority of companies are thus engaged in activities designed to minimize environmental impact, to secure employee benefits, and safe and fair working conditions throughout the supply chain, etc. Also, health promotion has entered the workplace through initiatives such as fruit schemes, access to a workplace gym, etc. Recently, however, a new category of health-related CSR initiative has appeared, namely worksite health promotion that is not confined to the work site as such, but which crosses over into the private life of the employees. Examples include workplace smoking cessation programs, the use of sleep apps and health checks focusing on calculating BMI, measuring blood pressure, cholesterol, body age, etc. The aim of this paper is to identify and map the extent and nature of such initiatives among the Danish frontrunner companies of CSR with a view to discussing the potential dark side of communicating such “employee benefits”. The study will provide a first mapping of health-related initiatives offered to Danish employees in terms of extent and category. Furthermore, based on this mapping, we will discuss the implications of work-site health promotion initiatives that cross over into the employees’ private lives.