Business Owner Says Quit Smoking or Quit Job

By: Diana Barnes-Brown for Body1

A business owner in Michigan announced in January that he plans to require his workers to be smoke free – both at home and at work – and said he is considering similar sanctions for obese workers. The announcement has sparked controversy about the rights of the workplace to preside over employees' private or at-home lives as a condition of employment.

Howard Weyers, the owner and founder of Weyco, a 200-employee insurance firm based in Okemos, Mich. came up with the idea because he felt that employee health was instrumental for the wellbeing of individuals and the livelihood of the firm. At 71, he attributes his better-than-average health to daily exercise and a life spent as a non-smoker.

In 2003, Weyers instituted a no-hire policy for smokers. Last year, he instituted a smoking ban during office hours and demanded that a $50 fee be paid by all smokers. While some were irritated, it seems his plan may have worked, at least in the short term: Twenty workers kicked the habit to avoid the negative consequences.

As far as smoking “therapy,” Weyers may be onto something. One of the most difficult components of efforts to quit smoking is that smokers see dangers to their health as something in the distant future, rather than something that has the potential to immediately impact their day-to-day lives.

This is not entirely true – smokers do experience health problems including respiratory infections, bronchitis and cardiac symptoms with much greater frequency than non-smokers, even when young or new to smoking. Health problems may still be attributed to other sources, or written off as inevitable, rather than preventable. Whether this group of quitters will stay away from nicotine remains to be seen, however.

Aside from any potential to change smokers’ behaviors, such unmistakable involvement in at-home life is most certainly an issue to be taken up by organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), civil rights lawyers and others who are worried that private life is becoming increasingly less private as the power of the corporate world to meddle in personal affairs increases.

Weyers has added to his list of demands a requirement that workers take a urine test to determine the presence of nicotine in the body. He has stated that if workers do not agree with the requirement, they are free to leave the company. The habits of at-home smokers would be detected by this test, causing many to argue that their boss has gone too far in his efforts to encourage smokers to quit. Four employees quit in response to the new requirement.

To address the problem of worker obesity, Weyers has brought in an eating disorder therapist, eating coaches, created a point system that offers financial bonuses for health-conscious behavior, and offered vouchers for health club memberships. He quipped in recent interviews that creating policies that targeted overweight workers was more difficult, due to recent changes in disability law that provide more leniency and legal protection for chronic overeaters.

He noted in a recent Reuters interview that he thinks workers should “quit whining” about the cost of health care and take action to improve their health, rather than relying on an already-taxed system.

If Weyers succeeds with his policies, he may set a precedent for similar activities by larger, more powerful companies, in turn making it hard for workers to keep their at-home lives private.

So far, no one has pressed charges against Weyers, but those in civil rights and legal communities may well hear – and say – more about the issue in the coming weeks and months.

Last updated: 22-Feb-05