US bosses wrong to fire smokers, obese: survey

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US bosses wrong to fire smokers, obese: survey

 

Thu Nov 1, 2:59 PM ET

 

 

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Americans spoke out strongly against bosses who fire

workers who are obese or smoke, a poll showed Thursday. A scant few of the

2,267 US adults polled online by Harris Interactive early last month said

employers should be allowed to fire someone who is unwilling to lose weight

(four percent) or stop smoking (seven percent).

 

But around one-third of poll respondents said employers should be allowed to

require staff to attend smoking cessation sessions or weight-loss programs.

" Employers have been making headlines recently for adopting stricter wellness

policies in order to control healthcare costs, " Harris Interactive's head of

healthcare research, Katherine Binns, said in a statement.

 

" Companies such as Scotts (gardening) and Weyco (healthcare) have fired

employees who tested positive for nicotine, " the statement said.

 

A Massachusetts man last year sued Scotts for firing him for smoking on his

own time, a report in the Boston Globe said.

 

His suit said he was unfairly sacked for " engaging in legal activities away

from the workplace, " the Globe report said.

 

Michigan-based Weyco instituted a policy in 2005 that allows employees to be

laid off if they smoke, regardless of whether they engage in the habit at work

or at home.

 

The company subsequently fired four employees who refused to be tested for

nicotine, press reports said, with other reports saying Weyco staff members were

fired after tests showed they had nicotine in their blood.

 

The poll conducted for The Wall Street Journal also showed that the number of

Americans who feel the obese and smokers should pay higher healthcare premiums

than their non-smoking and slim counterparts was significantly down form last

year.

 

Thirty-seven percent said it was fair for people with unhealthy lifestyles to

pay more for health insurance than their healthier counterparts, compared to 53

percent last year.

 

Eight out of 10 of those who said the unhealthy should carry a bigger health

insurance burden also said it was unfair to ask people with healthy lifestyles

to subsidize those who choose to smoke or pile on the pounds.

 

Three-quarters of those polled said they believed higher insurance premiums

for unhealthy living could encourage people to live more healthily.

 

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foster its renewal is our only hope. " Wendell Berry