Whole Foods to Employees On Health Care: Weigh Less And You'll Pay Less

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Whole Foods employees who tip the scales or light up after work would be spending more for their organic broccoli than their healthier co-workers, with the launch of the supermarket chain's "Team Member Healthy Discount Incentive" program aimed at controlling health care costs.

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Comments

[pointyheadprodigy]

08:41 AM on 02/01/2010

Whole foods must be trying to lose themselves. More anorexia anyone?

[elizlucinda]

10:53 PM on 01/30/2010

Perhaps it would be better if whole foods subsidized gym memberships or visits to nutritionists etc.

[hippie4ever]

12:50 AM on 01/28/2010

What a nice way to divide and conquer your employees. Fascism for health!

[Euranya]

10:21 AM on 01/27/2010

This sets a disturbing precedent. What next? Steeper employee discounts for vegans? for hose who are STD-free virgins? for female employees who get sterilized (and therefore save their employer a ton on health care)? for those with a family history of breast cancer who undergo "preventative" mastectomies? for depressed employees who agree to undergo electro-shock treatment (yes, this treatment still exists and is used to treat depression)? You can call it "innovative," "a novel approach to employee relations," or whatever, but it's still a disturbing sign of what's to come.

[Ljilja]

09:11 AM on 01/27/2010

It is an interesting idea and being voluntary, no one gets punished. Still, it rewords certain people for the way they are, and that doesn't seem fair. Some people just have a much, much harder time loosing weight.

http://graciouslivingdaybyday.com/

[rigormrtis]

11:31 AM on 01/27/2010

And some people just try harder to stay healthy.

[WOODSTOCKER51]

01:36 PM on 01/27/2010

and some people..have issues that are geneitc.so....lets penalize those with genetic or family lineage issues.and treat them like 2nd class people...........welcome to the new america......"land of oppurtunity,if your in the correct genetic makeup".............loser!


............makes the boatloads who came from europe,who built this country, roll over in their graves.....

[WOODSTOCKER51]

01:36 PM on 01/27/2010

"eat right.........exercise...........die anyway"...........

[PartyPartyParty]

02:00 PM on 01/27/2010

This is not the same thing as, say, groups of employees who get together and form a fitness club, where they pool their resources and come up with their own prize of the winnner of their own competition. That's an example of voluntary participation that's not discriminatory. Unless, of course, the group tries to exclude any of its fellow employees from participating.

If a group of employees is getting better employer benefits for any reason other than legally documented job performance, than the rest of the employees are being discriminated against.

[RusStyles]

11:53 PM on 01/26/2010

This a clear omen of things to come...Many more companies will be offering similar incentive programs in an effort to control healthcare costs and increase productivity. You can argue all you want about the fairness of this policy, but this will be the norm folks, so I strongly suggest heavy people and smokers start making some lifestyle changes now...

[WOODSTOCKER51]

07:53 AM on 01/27/2010

the health industry numbers show women...older men and women...certain ethnic groups...people who have cancer or other genetic diseases use healthcare more than others.should we they start hiring only people who are young.only.and have family medical-free backgrounds and be from low risk areas??....why not develope a robot...to do the work of people??..let me guess.its all about a buck!

[RusStyles]

11:40 AM on 01/28/2010

I have no idea how your question(s) applies to my suggestion. Clearly, companies can't investigate prospective employees medical history--you heard of HIPPA, right?

[spiritpony1]

12:28 AM on 02/04/2010

exactly---but this would be taking personal responsibility, where one can-----and a lot of us/majority are able to do so-------unfortunately, a lot of HP readers like to whine about taking personal responsibility and foist everything off on the gov., the corp. employer whatever. And, no I am not a conservative and I believe in a public option and I voted Obama-------

[Anastasia]

08:52 PM on 01/26/2010

On the other hand, if Mackey were in favor of a single payer, universal health care system like they have in Canada, he wouldn't have to worry about providing health care coverage at all.

But that is too simple.

[rigormrtis]

11:32 AM on 01/27/2010

As a libertarian, that is not something he would support.

[simarti44]

07:27 PM on 01/26/2010

As of right now, I no longer shop there. It's back to the competitor for me.

[WOODSTOCKER51]

01:37 PM on 01/27/2010

if you stop spending oon this company......you will force people to weigh less than those in ethiopia..lol................just to keep their jobs!

[kyeshinka]

07:09 PM on 01/26/2010

While I get irritated by America's ever-expanding waistline, and I feel extremely self-conscious because we are becoming the fattest, ugliest, and most irresponsible people on the planet, (and it's hard to feel sorry for fat workers), I think this is the wrong approach. Teaching personal responsibility to workers is one thing, but you have to practice it yourself. Whole Foods pays terrible wages and their employees can't afford to eat healthy. Fast food is cheap. As wages fall, people will eat more of it.

[EdRea]

06:53 PM on 01/26/2010

Maybe he can extend the discount to the migrant farm workers that he believes are doing so well.

[tangelan]

06:31 PM on 01/26/2010

If they're shopping at Whole Foods, then aren't they trying to be healthier? Shouldn't the unhealthy people get a discount if they're trying to be healthy?

[SkuddGobang]

06:40 PM on 01/26/2010

The staff can't afford to shop there.

[WOODSTOCKER51]

01:38 PM on 01/27/2010

thats how they stay thin.they only eat 3 times a week..............

[simarti44]

01:48 PM on 01/27/2010

It really isn't much more expensive than the regular grocery stores. especially when you consider the cr@p that is sold at the regular stores.

[rigormrtis]

11:43 AM on 01/27/2010

a discount to buy more food?

[martiniandabotoxchaser]

06:17 PM on 01/26/2010

Very interesting....new idea in personal responsibility.

[shthar]

06:01 PM on 01/26/2010

All a worker has to do is convince a judge that the %10 less of a discount he gets than another worker in the same position & seniority is a difference in wages.

And that will be the end of this.

[CrzyRussell]

09:30 PM on 01/27/2010

No, unless the wages are by a collective bargaining agreement wages can be different for people doing the same work.

[urchinsadrift]

05:58 PM on 01/26/2010

People should be free to work for whomever will hire them. If they dont like the working conditions they should be free to leave. If they dont like incentives to be healthier, they should move to michigan. The uaw will take care of them.

[petef59]

06:06 PM on 01/26/2010

Just can't resist a cheap, propaganda shot at the uaw? How mature of you.

[urchinsadrift]

08:52 PM on 01/26/2010

There is nothing cheap about the uaw. And they have such a track record of attracting MORE jobs. Just look at all the available workers in michigan.

[PartyPartyParty]

06:07 PM on 01/26/2010

Ah yes, the old "work at will" myth.

"Work at will" really means "Fire at will."

[Sam1234567]

06:10 PM on 01/26/2010

If you don't like your cable company services. Can you fire them at will and change to dish?

Why shouldn't the employer (obviously with in the law), be able to terminate someones employment?

[pterack5]

05:51 PM on 01/26/2010

back as far as the mid eightys one of the major railroad company's got busted for screening employees for risk factors and getting rid or high risk people, they used the old reliable drug test to watch people, tobacco and diabetes among other things show up with a pee test. . .