"Smoking can be hazardous to your health, and it's turning into a bad career move, too.A Whirlpool Corp. factory in Evansville, Ind., has suspended 39 workers who signed insurance paperwork claiming they don't use tobacco and then were seen smoking or chewing tobacco on company property. Now, some could be fired for lying, company spokeswoman Debby Castrale said."
Though, this is too light a premium difference.
"In Evansville, the 1,500-employee factory charges tobacco users an extra $500 in annual health insurance premiums. The refrigerator factory has levied the extra premium since 1996, and it depends on employees to honestly fill out forms. It doesn't mandate blood tests to detect nicotine or trail employees outside work, Castrale said."
It should.
"The employees were suspended without pay, and they'll present their case at 'fact-finding' meetings before management determines their fate. Whirlpool had to recall some laid-off workers to keep production running due to the suspensions.
A 2007 national survey showed that 16 percent of all large employers — those with 20,000 or more employees — adjust health care premium contributions according to the worker's smoking status, according to the human resources consulting firm Mercer...
The federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act limits the changes an employer can make to a health premium because of a worker's unhealthy habits. But it doesn't set parameters on punishment if an employee lies about his or her habit, Paton said."
Too bad.
They should be charged more.
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