Imagine that your boss tells you to lose weight. Why might this happen? There are two possible causes. For people suffering from excessive weight it can be physically difficult to do some work. There may also be issues over appearance. Not everyone fits into a uniform and looks good. Since many customers tend to judge the employer by the way the staff are presented, there’s pressure on employers to police the way you look. The second reason is pressure coming from the health insurance industry. It’s a statistical fact that the overweight are more likely to claim on health plans for longer term illnesses. This is forcing up premiums to employers but, to “help” those in financial difficulty, insurers are offering discounts if employers run wellness programs to incentivize their employees to lose weight. Allowing for many states allowing termination at-will, there are no real laws at a federal or state level to prevent discrimination on body weight. Unlike an injury leaving you partly paralyzed, the lawmakers say how much you weigh is a lifestyle decision and not a disability.
This problem is not restricted only to the US. For example in England people are fanatical about soccer. Benni McCarthy who should play for West Ham is overweight and has been told to lose about 12 pounds. The club will fine him about $60,000 out of his pay for every week he fails to lose 2 pounds. The club sees him through training, controls what he eats while at “work”, and then waves goodbye to him in the evening. If he’s not losing weight, it’s because of what he does out of sight. If we go over to Turkey, the state-run Turkish Airlines has suspended 28 flight attendants for being overweight. If these attendants, 15 of whom are men, do not get down to their target weights, they will be given work in the back office. In the meantime, they have no pay which will restrict the amount they can afford to eat and speed their weight loss.
So what would you do if your boss told you to lose weight? How much is your job worth to you? The Turkish flight attendants have been told to lose 10% of their body weight. They are finding it difficult to move easily up and down the aisles of the planes. By a strange coincidence, the clinical trials show participants losing an average of 10% of their body weight when using Acomplia. Would you diet and use an appetite suppressant to meet your boss’s expectations, or would you think this an interference with your private life and fight for your rights? Except, of course, your rights under the anti-discrimination laws are very limited. Even in a state which some protections against unreasonable termination, you may struggle to hold on to your job. So, it all comes back to a diet and Acomplia or giving up your paid work. Life can be really unfair.
