Michigan Company Won’t Let Smokers Keep Their Jobs

Weyco, Inc. of Okemos, Michigan, has decided that employees who smoke either have to quit their habit or lose their jobs. Howard Weyer, the founder of the company, said, "I don't want to pay for the results of smoking." So, the employees of the 200 strong firm must not smoke, not on the job or away from it. Tobacco use will result in termination. What a can of worms this opens.

First off, Mr. Weyer is abusing his position of power over his workers. What a person does off the clock is of no concern to the employer, save criminal activity since being in jail drives up absenteeism. The deal is simple -- wages and salaries are paid in exchange for labor. That is the extent of the relationship. Employers have historically tried to leverage that into a greater subservience – in cases, firing workers for voting in elections for candidate not favored by the boss.

Yet, Mr. Weyer is also being abused. As an employer in America, he is a major participant in the funding of healthcare for his employees. If they smoke, it costs him more money. Now, he can’t drop health coverage for his people because his company is “a licensed Michigan Third Party Administrator (TPA) to administer self-funded Medical, Dental, Vision, and Short-term Disability Plans.” If his company were to drop coverage for its workers, he will have a dreadful public relations problem and could well lose customers.

Healthcare in the US costs a ridiculous amount of money. In 2003, America spent $5,775 per capita for healthcare and administrative costs was $1,389 of that. And about 42 million Americans had no health insurance – many small business owners. Other developed nations spend far less. Yet, life expectancy for Americans is about the same as that of Coast Ricans, who live in a nation that spends under $300 per capita every year on health care. Clearly, Yanks aren’t getting value for money.

Mr. Weyer is being taxed by having to pay for his employees’ healthcare, whether they smoke or not. Or whether they have unprotected sex or not. Or whether they over-indulge in ethanol, cholesterol or Nembutal (under prescription). Worst of all, the tax is poorly spent in a system that has none of the benefits of market-place efficiency nor of socialized economies of scale. Supporters of national health care in America need to start talking about the current system as an excessive tax on business, because that’s what it is.



© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.

Home