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Can your company force you to be healthy? 

Rising health care costs are prompting firms to offer wellness programs for employees.

But when Reyes received the results, the diagnosis was a complete shock: His cholesterol and blood-sugar levels were abnormally high.

"It turned out I was a borderline diabetic and at high risk for a heart attack," says Reyes, 41. "I was terrified."

Motivated by his diagnosis, Reyes consulted his family doctor, who put him on medicine to lower his cholesterol . . .

Almost a third of companies offering health insurance benefits to their employees also provide a wellness program of some sort. Fitness, smoking cessation and weight-loss programs are provided most frequently, according to 2006 employer health benefits survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The telephone survey contacted 2,122 randomly selected public and private employers.

While most companies say they have a genuine concern for their employees' well being, the rising cost of health care is obviously part of the equation.

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Bosses wary of cig ban 

NEARLY three-quarters of UK bosses have seen productivity fall due to the smoking ban which became law in England and Wales a year ago today.

The findings are from new research by Employment Law Advisory Services (Elas), which also reveals that up to five per cent of the 1,100 employers surveyed admitted breaking the law and allowing staff to smoke indoors due to staff taking more frequent or longer smoking breaks.

However, on a positive note, 93% of bosses have seen a decrease in the number of employees who start smoking and 82% noted a reduction in sick leave.

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Smoking ban to affect all workplaces  

bar patrons and employees aren't the only people who will be affected by the anti-smoking ordinance approved by the City Council in March.

Work in a warehouse? Snuff out your cigarette. How about a manufacturing facility? No smoking there either. A retail business? Same answer.

The bottom line regarding the smoking ban: If you're in an indoor workplace, don't light up.

That message may have been lost amid smoking ban discussions because so many workplaces have been smoke free for years.

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Dell will ban smoking on its U.S. campuses 

Dell Inc. is going tobacco-free throughout the U.S.

The company will ban smoking at all its domestic facilities as of Jan. 1, according to a memo sent to employees Wednesday.

The prohibition applies to all employees and visitors, and it covers all the company's owned and leased properties, including parking lots and vehicles in those lots, the memo said. The note did not lay out any specific penalties for violations of the rule.

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• Smoking to be banned at all Dell campuses nationwide starting in 2009  

The plan to make all Dell campuses in the United States tobacco-free starting Jan. 1 was announced internally Wednesday, Dell spokesman Jess Blackburn says.

"The most important reason is we believe this is a positive move to contribute to a better and healthier lifestyle for our employees," he says.

Blackburn says the measure will also contribute to lowering health care costs for employees and the company.

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Smoking ban has gone down a treat in English offices 

As we approach the first anniversary of the smoking ban on 1 July 2008 it looks like it has had a positive effect in English workplaces. Monster research has shown that nearly two thirds of English workers (62%) have found that the smoking ban improved their work environment, however one in three also felt that time was wasted with co-workers/employees leaving the building for cigarette breaks.

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Employers scramble to obey smoking law 

Mike Kinter broke the news to his workers last Friday at a regular staff meeting: As of July 1, smoking is banned in all the construction company's trucks and other equipment and in the workshop.

One-third of the 15-member crew at Kinter Construction Services smokes. The smokers, Kinter said, are unhappy with the new rule, which was prompted by a state law the Iowa Legislature passed earlier this year. The statewide smoking ban prohibits smoking in most public places and workplaces, including bars and restaurants.

The law has employers scrambling to figure out how to comply with the new regulations and how to help workers cope.

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Smokers need not apply: Turnpike has strict policy 

WICHITA - Michael Johnston was trying to save money, not make a social statement, when he decided to stop hiring tobacco users at the Kansas Turnpike Authority.

As president and chief executive officer of the public-private company that operates and maintains the 236-mile toll-road, Johnston wanted to do something to curb health insurance costs, which he said had increased to the point that they were consuming about 10 percent of revenue.

Employees who used tobacco were targeted, Johnston said, because an analysis showed that their health care costs were higher than non-tobacco users. They went to the doctor more often, filled more prescriptions and missed more work.

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Why Fire Smokers - Fox Morning 6/19 - Save $12,000/yr // Smokers Breath is an Indoor Air Pollution Hazard 

Why companies should fire smokers, and employ only nonsmokers, will be the topic of Fox's Morning Show tomorrow [6/19] at 9 AM Eastern Time featuring "The Man Behind the Cigarette Commercial Ban," the "Ralph Nader of the Tobacco Industry," "Mr. Antismoking," and "The Law Professor Who Masterminded Litigation Against the Tobacco Industry," who will explain why it's both legal and profitable to do so.

Public Interest Law Professor John Banzhaf, Executive Director of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), also plans to discuss a new medical study which shows that the breath of smokers creates unhealthy levels of indoor air pollution, even if they do all their smoking outdoors.

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Smoke Claim Lorry Driver Wins 4000 

A LORRY driver sacked for allegedly smoking in his cab has won his unfair sacking claim and almost £4000 compensation.

Thomas Leckenby, 60, denied he had been smoking, claiming it was a placebo inhaler he had been using as he had recently stopped smoking.

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• Employers ponder tough tactics to halt smoking 

Howard Weyers tried the "carrot" approach by giving his employees incentives and encouragement to quit smoking. But when that didn't work, he resorted to the stick. A big stick.

Weyers, owner of a health care benefits administrator in Lansing, Mich., gave his 200 employees an ultimatum in 2004: Quit smoking in 15 months or lose your job. He refused to hire smokers. Ultimately, he extended his smoking ban to employees' spouses and monitored compliance through mandatory random blood testing.

Weyers' method, while effective, wouldn't fly in California because the state has laws that prohibit employers from making hiring or firing decisions based on employee participation in a legal activity. . . .

California, on both the state and local levels, has been at the forefront of anti-smoking efforts with laws to ban smoking in public places. A law went into effect in January that prohibits drivers from smoking when children are in the car. Still, smoking costs the state an estimated $8.6 billion in direct medical costs and $7.3 billion in lost productivity a year, according to the California division of the American Cancer Society.

In addition to lost work hours, employers have a vested interest in getting their workforce to kick the habit, given that they pay a large portion of health care costs and are the main source of health insurance for more than half the population.

At Monday's event, officials from the California Public Employees' Retirement System, the third-largest purchaser of health care in the country, said they asked the three health insurers that provide coverage for the fund's 1.2 million state and local employees to increase member participation in smoking cessation programs by 20 percent next year.

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• Employers and Addiction Experts Come Together at Commonwealth Club to Take Action to Reduce Smoking: 

A summit hosted by the Commonwealth Club of California brought together addiction experts, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control as well as leaders from business and state government to address the continuing epidemic of smoking addiction in California.

Moderated by Dr. Nancy Snyderman, participants examined why, after 30 years of widespread efforts to end tobacco use, 4 million Californians still smoke. Each year, tobacco use claims the lives of more than 40,000 Californians. California taxpayers pay more than $15 billion annually to offset health care expenses and lost productivity for the state’s 4 million smokers. Addiction experts testified that quitting smoking is no walk in the park. As Dr. Snyderman states in her new book, Medical Myths That Can Kill You — And the 101 Truths That Will Save, Extend, and Improve Your Life, “many health experts now consider nicotine more addictive than heroin.”

“Prevention is the key to a more cost-effective health delivery system for all Californians. No area of prevention is more important than that of smoking cessation in creating a healthier California. I applaud the leadership demonstrated by Safeway, the Pacific Business Group on Health and the California Public Employees’ Retirement System for taking on this important issue and challenging others in the business community to join them,” stated Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

At the summit, Safeway Inc. announced that all of its corporate offices in California will become smoke free and tobacco free beginning July 1

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Blue Cross of Kansas to enact tobacco-free workplace 

The state’s largest health insurer -- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas -- is going smoke-free.

On July 1, the company, which employs 1,450 people in Topeka and 10 field offices, including one in Lawrence, will ban tobacco at its workplaces.

"Implementing a tobacco-free policy sends a strong message that we care about the health and safety of our employees,” said Graham Bailey, vice president of corporate communications and public relations. “We cannot be credible in promoting the importance of health and wellness to our employer groups and members if we are not first willing to tackle the big issues ourselves," Bailey said.

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我国开始创建无烟工作场所 

为了更好的推行无烟环境政策、支持北京无烟奥运及北京市《公共场所禁止吸烟范围若干规定》政府令的实施，中华预防医学会、中国抗癌协会、国家控烟办公室和美国癌症协会联合组成无烟工作场所项目执行委员会，共同倡导、推行100%无烟工作场所。他们提出：“创建无烟工作场所，从今天开始！”的口号，希望能有更多的企业加入无烟的行列，愿更多的企事业单位能够以人为本，全面禁烟，为员工提供一个100%无烟的安全工作环境。目前已经有37家中外企业加入此项目，仅有北京爱慕内衣有限公司、北京肿瘤医院、北京朝阳医院等7家国内企事业单位参加此项目。

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Pasco County Continues Research of Smoke-Free Work Force 

County commissioners are continuing to research hiring only nonsmokers in the future and considering a program to help current workers kick the tobacco habit.

Smokers tend to use medical benefits 50 percent more often, Lisa Sloan told commissioners this morning. Sloan is a tobacco prevention specialist with the Pasco County Health Department.

The Pasco and Pinellas sheriff's offices both hire only nonsmokers, Sloan emphasized. Pasco County is above average on the number of smokers on the public payroll, Sloan told the County Commission on Tuesday.

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