WHP Costs for SMEs

What does a complete workplace health promotion (WHP) program cost at a small or medium-sized German company?

What a complete WHP program costs depends on its scope, company size and the share of external services; there is no reliable study figure per employee. Under German law, two separate routes can ease the burden without cancelling out the costs: employer health benefits are tax-free up to €600 per employee per year under Section 3 No. 34 EStG — a tax allowance, not a payout; only your tax advisor can confirm the tax exemption. Separately, health insurers fund individual projects under Section 20b SGB V, with no entitlement and not per head. The iga.Report 40 puts the ROI with structured implementation at 1:2.7 on average (€1 invested, €2.70 back).

What a WHP program costs — by scope (example: 100 employees)

Program Scope	Main cost drivers	Possible health insurer funding (Section 20b SGB V)	How to prove the effect
Basic (risk assessment + 2 measures)	Internal time, individual courses	Project sum for one measure possible — no entitlement	Sickness rate before and after the measure
Standard (steering committee + 5–8 measures)	Courses, steering committee facilitation, survey	Project sum or annual budget (e.g. €5,000) possible — no entitlement	Metrics per measure, employee survey
Premium (systematic, 10+ measures)	Ongoing support, several projects in parallel	Annual budget or several projects possible — no entitlement	Sickness rate compared with the national average, turnover

What do WHP costs consist of?

WHP costs fall into four categories: direct measure costs, external consulting and facilitation, internal time and software. Internal time is often underestimated — every hour of HR time spent organizing WHP has a price.

Direct measure costs: certified prevention courses (for example for back health or nutrition) are usually charged per participant; the providers set the prices. Statutory health insurers can fund such measures under Section 20b SGB V as part of a workplace health promotion project — as a sum for the project, not as a fixed share of the costs, and with no entitlement. Whether and how much, you clarify with the insurer in advance.

External consulting: a WHP audit with action planning is usually offered as a project, ongoing support as an annual contract; prices depend on scope and provider — get quotes. Software like EasyWHP helps you get started yourself: the steering committee and documentation run in a structured way, and if a consultant joins, they work on the same basis.

You can put a figure on the software item in advance: EasyWHP, which offers BGM-Kompass free of charge, publishes its prices openly — tiered by company size and by whether BEM and occupational safety are added as pillars. The process and the metrics, the basis for your tax adviser and for talks with a health insurer, are documented along the way. What EasyWHP costs →

What do the tax allowance and health insurer funding bring?

Both relieve the burden in separate ways, without cancelling out the costs. Under German tax law, Section 3 No. 34 EStG is a tax allowance: employers can provide up to €600 per employee per year for “services to improve general health” tax-free — on top of the wages already owed. The €600 is an upper limit, not a target and not a payout; in practice a fraction is often enough. Eligible are ZPP-certified prevention courses (exercise, nutrition, stress management, addiction prevention) and measures implemented within the workplace health promotion process — no certification is provided for these. At 100 employees, the limit works out at €60,000 per year — a ceiling, not a budget that has to be used up. Only your tax advisor can confirm the tax exemption.

Separately, Germany's statutory health insurers (GKV) fund workplace health promotion projects under Section 20b SGB V — as a sum for a single measure, a health day for a few thousand euros, or an annual budget (e.g. €5,000), not as an amount per head. Section 20b SGB V is a mandate to the insurers, not an entitlement for the company: whether and how much an insurer funds depends, among other things, on how many of your employees are insured there. Some insurers also offer free consulting and facilitation.

Both routes can exist side by side, but they cannot be netted into a single calculation: health insurer funding is an agreed project sum with no entitlement. The tax allowance makes health benefits free of payroll tax and social security contributions for employees — it does not lower the price of the measure and is not a corporate tax saving. A calculation like “€30,000 invested, €6,000 net” therefore doesn't add up. Plan with the full costs; any health insurer funding comes on top if it materializes.

What drives costs — and where can you start affordably?

Cost drivers: support without a shared data basis (every evaluation done by hand again), courses without a ZPP certificate where the insurer requires one, one-off events without a process, missing documentation (without it, there is no basis for health insurer funding or for your tax advisor)
Quick win 1: use the free IMPULS test for psychological risk assessment plus occupational-physician cooperation
Quick win 2: book ZPP-certified back-health/nutrition courses — whether and how much the health insurer covers is up to the insurer
Quick win 3: start incrementally — one focus area, one course, one measurable KPI. Then scale.
Quick win 4: get started yourself with WHP software — if a consultant joins, they work on the same basis

Does WHP pay off financially?

On average, yes: the iga.Report 40 (Initiative Gesundheit und Arbeit) reviews the international evidence — with structured implementation, every euro invested returns €2.70 on average (1:2.7), through fewer absences, lower turnover costs and higher productivity. This shows the effect of WHP in general, not the result of an individual company; the proof comes from your own measurement.

A sick day costs around €300 (Personalwirtschaft, 22.02.2024; German figures). For a company with 100 employees and 15 sick days per head per year, that is around €450,000 in absence costs a year. Just one fewer sick day per head saves around €30,000 a year. Any expense can be offset this way: €2,388 a year has paid for itself after around 8 avoided sick days (€2,388 ÷ €300).

Turnover can cost more than absences: filling a position again costs recruiting, onboarding and productivity — for specialists and managers, quickly several months' salary. WHP is a factor in employer attractiveness and retention; Roland Berger cites up to 40% lower turnover (2020).

Related measures & topics

Key takeaways

Note: German law. There is no reliable per-head figure for WHP costs — they depend on scope, company size and external services
Section 3 No. 34 EStG: up to €600/employee/year tax-free — a tax allowance, an upper limit, not a target; only your tax advisor can confirm the tax exemption
Health insurer funding under Section 20b SGB V: a project sum for a measure or an annual budget — no entitlement, no amount per head
ROI 1:2.7 according to iga.Report 40, on average, with structured implementation — at around €300 per sick day, one fewer sick day per head saves around €30,000 a year in a company with 100 employees
Affordable way in: ZPP course, IMPULS test and cooperation with the occupational physician

Frequently asked questions

As a GmbH managing director, can I also benefit from Section 3 No. 34 EStG if I'm also a shareholder?+

Yes — Section 3 No. 34 EStG applies to all employees, including managing directors with an employment contract. The €600 threshold applies per person. As a shareholder-managing director, make sure your compensation is reasonable and agreed in advance, to avoid jeopardizing the arm's-length comparison test. Only your tax advisor can confirm the tax exemption in the individual case.

Which German statutory health insurer subsidizes WHP measures most generously?+

Section 20b SGB V gives all statutory health insurers the task of providing workplace health promotion — this does not create an entitlement for the company, and terms vary. There is no ranking: which advice, facilitation, or project funding an insurer offers differs from insurer to insurer and from project to project. Recommendation: ask directly with the insurer that covers most of your employees — that is where the conversation makes the most sense.

Do I need an external provider for the statutory health insurance subsidy, or can I offer measures internally?+

Health insurers partly reimburse certified prevention courses under Section 20 SGB V to the insured person — the ZPP certificate comes with the course provider; it cannot be obtained internally. For a workplace health promotion project under Section 20b SGB V, no certification is required; what the insurer funds there, you clarify with them in advance. Internal measures (e.g., an employee leading a yoga session) are generally not funded by the insurer. They may still be tax-free under Section 3 No. 34 EStG, for example if the course matches a certified concept in content or is part of a WHP process subsidized by the insurer. Only your tax advisor can confirm this.

Put your WHP budget to efficient use

EasyWHP documents your workplace health promotion process so that your tax advisor can check the tax exemption under Section 3 No. 34 EStG — and measures the effect against your own metrics.

Try EasyWHP for free

Sources

Last updated: 2026-06-24. Not legal or tax advice — have your specific case reviewed by a professional.

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