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Why incentives work
It is no question that obesity is a huge problem in America. What most people don't realize is that obesity is causing them to lose jobs and that they are being paid around $2.00 less per hour than their in-shape co-workers. Since obesity is costing employers roughly $12.7 billion a year, many of them are overlooking new hires that are overweight. It may sound like discrimination, but employers do reserve this right because obesity is costing so much money. Employers that already have obese employees are trying alternative routes to get their employees to lose weight and stay in shape. Incentives are an effective way to get your employees to lose weight and get healthy.
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A person that is obese is automatically a concern for employers. Obese employees are less-productive and they take 7 times the amount of sick leave from healthy employees. Duke University found that obese employees average about 10 days of sick leave a year. They are more susceptible to workplace injuries, causing your workers compensation insurance rates to rise.
Obese individuals are at an increased risk of developing various medical conditions including the following:
- Diabetes
- Cancer
- Heart disease
- High blood pressure
- Arthritis
This automatically drives up the cost of healthcare. Health insurance companies are forced to move the company into the high-risk pool and this can significantly increase the insurance rates for everyone at your company. The company will be forced to pay a higher premium just to keep the insurance. This is why so many employers have switched to high-deductible health insurance plans because they have lower monthly premiums. Others are offering health savings accounts (HSA) to help their employees offset the cost of healthcare; however it is sometimes not enough to pay for the needs of the obese individual.
Employers also don't like to hire obese employees because they often struggle with mental health issues. Many of them bring their personal life to work, which can be a huge distraction for your other employees. This can decrease employee morale and significantly impact your production costs. Some of the mental health problems obese individuals have include the following:
- Depression
- Bi-polar disorder
Low self-esteem
Quite often their mental health issues cause employers more money because they need to provide special accommodations for them. They also struggle with employee cohesion because many of them have social acceptance issues. Others require special accommodations for air travel and for their office. You may need to purchase more expensive equipment that can hold their weight because most chairs are only designed to hold up to 250-300 pounds.
Employers have begun taking aggressive action against obese employees and they will charge them an extra $30 per paycheck for their lifestyle choice. This helps the employer to reduce the total amount they need to pay for health insurance premiums. Since the obese employees are causing the healthcare costs to rise in the first place, this is a smart decision.
Incentives are a great way to reduce your healthcare costs and to reduce the additional financial stress an obese employee causes a company. The incentives must correspond with the company wellness program and they must be attractive and desirable in order to get your obese employees to participate. Some of the common incentives include offering large cash compensation, vacations, gift cards, time off, etc. Incentives are a great way to get your staff in shape and it can help your obese employees advance their career with your company. Hire a medical expert to come in and assess the situation at your firm so you can get a good idea as to what you are up against. This can help you plan to set aside enough money for the incentives and it can help you plan out how long the wellness program should last for.
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