Health Insurance rebates

What is the name of your state? North Carolina

My company has sent out a notice saying that they are going to start offering health insurance rebates to those employees who exercise often. They also state they will be giving out bonuses to those employees which do not smoke.

My question is whether or not this is discrimination. Aren't the decsions to exercise or smoke considered lifestyle choices? I thought employers could only discriminate on details that relate directly to the job/position of the employee.

Also, I am disabled, and I may not be able to perform the required exercise regimen to qualify for the rebates. Do I have any legal recourse if I do not qualify due to my disability?

Thank you for your time.

Excuse me for being blunt but, in my opinion, no, this is not discrimination. This is additional "gift" benefit from the employer and no one is entitled by law to it.

More and more employers are adding such programs because health care costs are rising so fast, and many of the increased costs are related to lifestyle issues. If you are not physically able to qualify, then you don't get the "rebate". If you are physically able to qualify, then you have a choice; perform the requirements or not. This is not salary we're talking about here.

Sorry, being fat, lazy and a smoker does not meet the federal discrimination guidelines. In fact, it is legal for an employer to require those that smoke and/or overweight to pay part of their medical premiums.

"I thought employers could only discriminate on details that relate directly to the job/position of the employee."

Not true. In fact, most discrimination is legal. An employer may NOT discriminate on the basis of anything protected under Title VII or related laws. Anything else is fair game.

There is nothing illegal about what your employer is proposing.

It seems some of you have jumped to the conclusion that I was submitting this thread because I am {choose one:FAT;SMOKER;LAZY}. This is not the case. I am a healthy active middle-aged person who has never smoked. I am disabled (legally blind) but that may be a matter better suited for ADA. My concerns are for the health of my company. If they get sued then I may not have a place to work. The company does have a large sedentary population. Which is probably what prompted this action in the first place

To further clarify my thinking on the matter: My company's payroll dept. sends out a letter at the end of every year summarizing the individual earnings. They include insurance premiums, bonuses, vacation, and other benefits as being part of the employee's base salary. My concern is that someone could argue that the company views those items as being part of the wages and therefore they are determining a person's salary based on lifestyle choices.

All this may be baseless, in which case I will rest easily.

Thank you for your time, and, please, no snide comments. They are unwarranted.

I won't attempt to speak for racer; I don't know him well enough. I assure you that neither Patty nor I were making any such assumptions as you accuse us of.

The fact remains that nothing you have described opens up your employer to any legal problems. EVEN IF someone decided that that the letter you describe (which is by no means unusual) meant that their health insurance benefits were part of their wages and EVEN IF they decided that this meant their salary was being determined by their lifestyle choices, that is NOT illegal and would not put your employer in any legal danger.

darkstar, your employer (like many) is making some changes in order to promote a healthy lifestyle among the employee population and thus reduce lifestyle related claims on their health insurance. No one has any basis to sue them for this. You can rest easy.

It sounds as though your companys wording is vague as to the type of exercise and how often it is performed. I would think that if you do 3 sit-ups every morning, you are exercising often and would qualify for the rebate!!

My company also is starting a similar policy eff Jan 1, 2005. Smokers will be charged a 10% surcharge of their premium--personally, I don't smoke and can see the logic behind the surcharge, bue what annoys me is that it is on the "Honor system". A smoker can simply check "NO" and forgo the surcharge and there is no testing to back up the claim.