Bosses to Workers: Shape Up or Pay Up
Hold it right there—don’t even think about lighting that cigarette or chomping into that cholesterol-laden super-duper burger. And, if you dare to disobey this instruction, it will cost you at work.
That’s what a small number of employers are now telling their employees, essentially, in a new workplace trend of trying to regulate employees’ unhealthy off-the-job behavior, according to the Chicago Tribune.
“If you smoke, you may not get hired and you could get fired. If your cholesterol is too high, you can pay higher premiums for your insurance. The same goes for blood pressure, body mass and blood glucose levels,” the newspaper reports. “The requirements embraced by a growing number of companies are encroaching on privacy and raising questions about who will qualify for health insurance, as well as employment.”
At least one company, Weyco Inc., based in suburban Lansing, Mich., has been charging employees an extra $50 per paycheck for an insured spouse who smokes or chews tobacco.
Says Anita Epolito, who was fired by the health benefits administration company in 2005 for refusing to quit smoking, “What’s next? No McDonald’s? No caffeine? No Krispy Kreme?”
In fact, in a similar effort to strong-arm elderly clients into healthier eating habits, a senior center in Putnam County, N.Y., recently began refusing to accept donations of free doughnuts, pies and bread. In response, outraged seniors picketed the establishment, wearing placards saying “They’re Carbs, Not Contraband” and “We’re Old Enough to Choose,” reports the Associated Press.
Gary Climes, an official with Meritain Health Michigan, into which Weyco has merged, says such firings don’t violate Michigan law and are accepted by the company’s current employees. “It really comes down to a personal choice, as far as do you want to be employed here,” he says.
