Why overweight employees cost you money

While it is wrong for an employer to discriminate against an employee or possible future employee because he or she is overweight, it is not wrong for employers to encourage their employees to lose weight. Overweight employees cost employers a lot of money each year for several reasons. This article discusses why overweight employees cost employers money.

Injuries

Studies have been done that prove that employees who are overweight file twice as many worker's compensation claims compared to employees who are at a healthy weight for their height. And in some studies the number of medical claims made by overweight employees was as much as seven times higher than the thinner employees. This can costs an employer a lot of money each year; especially if they have more than one overweight employee filing these claims every year.

Overweight employees experience many different types of injuries because of their weight. For example, an overweight employee might experience arm or wrist injuries, back, shoulders, or hip injuries, and knee, foot, and neck injuries. Overweight employees experiencing these injuries cost their company a lot of money.

Absent employees

Employees who are overweight also tend to take more sick days because of injuries that they experience that are related to being overweight. When an employee is injured and is absent from work an employer has to find someone to fill in for the injured employee. This means that sometimes they may have to train someone new or divide the work between several employees. Training costs a company time and money and dividing the work between other employees could mean that they are not able to get their own work done as quickly or as well resulting in less productivity which can lose the company money.

Health insurance and health care costs

Employees who are overweight may also cost their employer money through health insurance and health care costs. People who are overweight are more likely than thinner people to get diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. These diseases are costly, and insurance companies know that. When a company offers insurance to their employees they help pay for some of the insurance to help cut the cost to the employees. When an employee's health insurance cost goes up, so does the health insurance cost for the employer for that overweight employee.

Productivity

Many studies have shown that unhealthy employees are less productive than healthy employees. Overweight employees usually fall into the category of unhealthy employees. Overweight employees are more likely to complete their tasks slower, they will be able to concentrate less, and they will not be as good at communication in the workplace. When an employee is less productive, overtime it will really cost their employee a lot of money.

There will also be a lack of productivity when an overweight employee calls in sick and has to be replaced. A new employee who has to be trained will not be as productive as an employee who already knows what he or she is doing. And when other employees have to fill in for a sick employee they may end up being less productive as well.

Office morale

While office morale may not seem like something that would end up costing an employer money, it is. Overweight employees who are generally less healthy, and may be experiencing a variety of injuries are likely to bring down office morale. While maybe morale in and of itself does not bring up the costs to an employer, the lack of happy employees will bring down productivity which will end up costing an employer money.