Employers are now finding ways to punish employees for unhealthy behavior. Increasingly, employers are holding their employees responsible. Instead of blindly providing health insurance to all employees on the same level, regardless of their health, employers are giving one kind of insurance to healthy employees, and a less desirable package to less healthy employees. Deductibles are higher for employees who are over weight, who smoke, or who have other conditions that result from unhealthy behavior. Employees can avoid this cost by participating in wellness programs, provided by the employer, but if they choose not to, they face the insurance increase. Some workers rights groups find these practices coercive, and unfair. Opposition to these kinds of insurance programs stem from the fact that often, it cannot be proven exactly how much more a less healthy person costs a company, than someone who is healthy and in good shape. At GiftCard Partners we believe that a Carrot Vs. the Stick approach, which offers rewards and incentives for good behavior, is far better than outcasting and punishing employees. Although these practices promote a healthy lifestyle, is it fair to essentially reduce an employees paycheck when the company cannot tell exactly how much more that person is costing them?
For more information read the full Chicago Sun-Times article If you have an opinion on these programs, or your company runs a program similar to this, leave us a comment.
