Question

Should employers penalize employees for smoking behaviors and weight conditions that increase employers’ health care costs, or should employers just bear these costs to attract efficient employers

Answer 1

Although this is a controversial topic, I think smokers have higher health care expenses and less productivity compared to non- smokers.I believe employers should penalize employees for smoking behaviors if they work in a health Care setting such as a hospital or doctor's office.according to Asch (2013), a Small but increasing number of employers- healthcare systems such as the Cleveland clinic,Geisinger,Baylor and the university of Pennsylvania health system- have established policies of no longer hiring tobacco users, since smoking is banned in numerus restaurants and bars,I think it would be beneficial to ban smoking around facilities promoting good health.This type of policy would ban a destructive substance and limit the harmful effects of secondhand smoke to nonsmokers.From Asch (2013) the Cleveland clinic moved to a smoke- campus in 2005 and stopped hiring smokers in 2007. Reportedly,smoking rates decreased in cuyahoga country ( where the Cleveland clinic is located) from 20.7% in 2005 to 15% in 2009,whereas the overall rate in the state decreased only from 22.4% to 20.3%. This will ultimately cut down costs for employers and employees.