Your company is ready to open an employee fitness center with on-site aerobics and yoga classes, stationary bikes, treadmills, and weight machines. The center will be open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily; at least one qualified instructor will be on duty at all times. Employees get first preference; if there is extra room, clients, spouses, and children 14 and older may also use the facilities.

Locker rooms and showers will also be available.

Your company hopes that the fitness center will help out-of-shape employees get the exercise they need to be more productive. Other companies have saved between $2.30 and $10.10 for every $1.00 spent on wellness programs. The savings come from lower claims on medical insurance, less absenteeism, and greater productivity.

Write the e-mail announcing the center.

Hints:

■ Who pays the medical insurance for employees?

If the employer pays, then savings from healthier employees will pay for the center. If another payment plan is in effect, you’ll need a different explanation for the company’s decision to open the fitness center.

■ Stress benefits apart from the company’s saving money. How can easier access to exercise help employees? What do they do? How can exercise reduce stress, improve strength, help employees manage chronic illnesses such as diabetes and high blood pressure, and increase productivity at work?

■ What kind of record does the company have of helping employees be healthy? Is the fitness center a departure for the company, or does the company have a history of company sports teams, stopsmoking clinics, and the like?

■ What is the company’s competitive position? If the company is struggling, you’ll need to convince readers that the fitness center is a good use of scarce funds.

If the company is doing well, show how having fit employees can make people even more productive.

■ Stress fun as a benefit. How can access to the center make employees’ lives more enjoyable?