Companies will sell employees Apple Watches for $25 to reach health goals

In an effort to motivate employees to maintain healthier lifestyles, a handful of companies are experimenting with providing Apple Watches for only $25.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Vitality Group, a health services firm, is launching the program this year at a handful of companies, including Amgen, DaVita HealthCare Partners, and ad insurance firm Lockton.

The idea is to leverage the various health tracking features on the Apple Watch to motivate workers to move more and be healthier — in which case, they will hopefully have fewer health problems, and the company will save money on insurance premiums.

Getting an Apple Watch, which can cost $350 or more, for only $25 is both a carrot and a stick. Employees get a great deal, obviously. But the employees have to meet certain health goals over a two-year period. If they don’t, then they have to reimburse the company the full price of the watch, according to the WSJ.

The story notes that Fitbit has a broad range of corporate partnerships to provide its fitness trackers for similar programs. It’s unclear whether Apple is officially involved in this particular program, but it’s certainly an interesting opportunity for the company, which is trying to increase its appeal to enterprise customers.