Employers Get Serious with Employee Health

Ask any employer and they will tell you – it’s getting tougher and tougher to provide health care for employees. Health benefits are among the most coveted by employees, but usually the most expensive to provide. And it’s getting even more expensive each year. According to the National Coalition on Health Care, in 2007, employer health insurance premiums increased by 6.1%. In response, many employers are doing something about the high cost of providing health benefits.

A recent Time Magazine article reported that many employers are embarking on a “crackdown on workers’ poor health habits involving both the carrot and the (cancer) stick.” (Mandatory Health, Time Magazine, March 24, 2008, page 58) It’s no secret that many Americans have unhealthy habits – smoking, overeating, lack of exercise – yet it’s the employer who foots the bill when these unhealthy lifestyle choices create health problems for employees. And ironically, the employer also gets the blame for the problem as well. According to the same Time article, “More than half of us cite work demands for our refusal to put down the Ho Hos and do a push-up. Eighty-four percent of Americans say we’d get healthy – honest – if only the boss insisted.”

Now many bosses are insisting. Several large companies, such as Verizon and Microsoft have offered cash bonuses and other perks for employees who lose weight or quit smoking. Other companies have assigned “health coaches” to monitor the diets and lifestyles of employees. Estimates are that up to two-thirds of large companies offer these or similar wellness programs. Your business may lack the space or funds to install a gym at the workplace, but something as simple as a company weight-loss competition can be an easy and fun way to encourage good health among employees. Last year, our law firm took the top prize in a fitness contest sponsored by the Visalia Times Delta. During the six-month contest, our employees ate healthier, exercised more, and lost weight. The participants saw their productivity increase. Our firm witnessed firsthand the benefits that come when employees take the initiative to get healthier.

Another growing trend sees employers actually taking action against employees that refuse to get healthy. Stories abound of employers firing workers for smoking. (There is no law in California prohibiting employment discrimination against those who use tobacco products.) Other employers screen job applicants for nicotine. (The California Supreme Court has allowed drug testing of job applicants; drug testing of actual employees is a much more complex issue.) As discussed in a past article in this newsletter, a San Francisco employee was fired for using medically prescribed marijuana to alleviate his back pain caused by injuries he sustained in the military. The California Supreme Court recently upheld the firing.

Employers must exercise some caution, however. Overweight employees that have been terminated have sued employers for disability discrimination. And while the California Supreme Court has excluded obesity from the definition of “disability,” if an employee’s obesity “results from a physiological condition affecting one or more basic bodily systems and limits a major life activity,” there may be disability discrimination liability in terminating the employee.

In conclusion, one thing is all but certain – employers that provide health insurance are going to find it more and more expensive to do so. As such, taking steps to improve the health of employees not only helps the company’s bottom line, but has other benefits as well: fewer sick days and happier, more productive employees. California law has made it clear that because employers are footing the bill for their employees’ unhealthy lifestyles, they have the power to do something about it.