Zerodha's Nithin Kamath announces bonus for employees but there’s a catch

New Delhi: Nithin Kamath, co-founder and CEO of online brokerage firm Zerodha revealed that his company is launching a "fun wellness programme" to encourage staff to stay fit. Employees at Zerodha will be rewarded for losing weight as part of this programme.

In a series of tweets, Kamath, who is a fitness enthusiast, stated that anyone at Zerodha with a BMI of less than 25 will receive a bonus of half a month's pay.

The average BMI of Zerodha's staff is 25.3, according to the CEO. He also issued a challenge to his employees, saying that if they can reduce the average BMI to below 24 by August, everyone at the company will receive a bonus of half a month's salary. He stated, "It would be interesting to compete with other companies."

"At @zerodhaonline, we're running a fun wellness programme. Anyone on our team who has a BMI of 30 or above

Kamath clarified the parameters of the challenge in a subsequent tweet. He stated that the person with the lowest average BMI or the greatest change in average BMI is the winner.

According to Kamath, the winner would be able to choose a charity to which everyone else will donate. He also suggested that this endeavour may be led by a health-tech firm.

"Try writing in the comments if you wish to do this at your organisation," Kamath added. He also wished everyone a "Healthy World Day 1."

Kamath said in the thread's last tweet that while BMI isn't the ideal way to track health and fitness, it is the simplest way to get started.

"The most important part of health & most other aspects of life is to get started," he added.

Kamath also urged his followers that walking 10,000 steps each day is a good place to start if they want to get healthier.