A funny thing happened on the way to making the wealthy even wealthier: Workers' lives improved. It wasn't because corporate titans suddenly saw the light and decided to change their ways. It was strictly a pocketbook issue.

Businesses exist to make money. From child labor to exposing workers to harmful chemicals, nothing that helped the bottom line has ever been off the table. In the last century, lawmakers began changing the landscape—placing human lives and personal welfare over corporate profits—when public sentiment called for change.

In today's marketplace, economics are the tail that wags the dog of public benefit. Workers comp costs forced employers to make workplaces safer, coincidentally reducing fatality rates by about a third. Workers were gifted on-site gyms and anti-obesity programs when medical costs took too big a bite out of corporate profits. Employee absenteeism and its attendant costs steered companies toward on-site childcare and more generous telecommute policies.