Workers who top the weight bar and qualify as “obese” may be in the majority soon if current trends continue.
Last spring The Conference Board released a report showing that 34 percent, or more than one of three, adult Americans are obese. This is double the rate thirty years ago.
Because of a greater risk of certain injuries and illnesses among the obese, businesses are paying more to have obese workers on the payroll. Weighing too much contributes to a long list of health problems, with heart disease at the top. Most estimates place the cost of obesity to private employers at $14 billion a year, including lost work time. Obesity-related costs boost total healthcare spending for businesses by 36 percent—more than smoking or alcohol-related problems.
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A free tool to calculate the cost of obesity at your business is available on the web from the National Business Group on Health. The tool is supported by the Centers for Disease Control.
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Even though healthcare costs are greater for obese employees, you can’t hire or fire a worker based on weight alone. In fact, a business owner who is shown to have discriminated against an employee on the basis of his or her obesity is in violation of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA). Several cases have been brought successfully by workers who believed they were denied a job opportunity or were fired because they were obese.
In one case a woman with no health problems except for obesity was denied a job driving a van for a bus company. The examining physician declined to grant medical certification, saying the worker was not fit to handle the van in emergency situations, and the job offer was withdrawn. The woman sued and won.
Because of the legal barriers and public relations calamities that face companies try to enforce a strict weight policy at work, most experts recommend a strong and steady program of incentives that are not tied to a worker’s job or pay level.
Here’s a breakdown of what total medical costs are per 100 employees who are overweight:
Workers with a normal BMI $7,500
Overweight workers: More than $13,300;
Mildly obese workers: More than $19,000;
Moderately obese workers: More than $23,300;
Severely obese workers: More than $51,000
The BMI is an indirect way of measuring body density.
Sources:
Obesity Costly in Workers’ Comp
Study on obesity commissioned by AAOHN
Obesity Discrimination and the ADA (Cornell University ILR School)
