The real costs of having employees who smoke

There has been a lot of debate about how involved employers should be in helping their employees stop smoking. The reality is that smoking is not just an unhealthy habit; it is a practice that is costing employer's a great deal of money. Employees who smoke are affecting their employer's bottom line and overall profitability. There are many different reasons why employees who smoke pose a high cost of doing business, for their employer. Here are the real costs of having employees who smoke-

• Health care and insurance costs-Studies have shown that employees, who smoke, have higher health care and insurance costs. Smokers tend to have to use more health care, which leads to their employer having a higher health care utilization rating. This means that the insurance company will rate the employer lower and charge them more in health care premiums. Employers are already feeling pinched with the costs of health care and insurance, rising so dramatically each year. While many employers try to limit their health care costs by increasing deductibles or limiting coverage, the reality is that having an employee who smokes is actually costing more. Insurance analysts report that employees who smoke increase the insurance premiums, by as much as 3 times more, then a non-smokers health insurance premium. An additional problem is that fact that having a few smokers in the office, will often cause everyone's health insurance premium go up since all employees are exposed to second hand smoke. This means that even those employees who do not smoke, are costing the employer more, due to the few employees who do smoke.
• Lack of productivity-Studies have also shown that employees who smoke are not as productive as their non-smoking counterparts. This is in large part due to the fact that smoking employees have to take their breaks, away from the rest of the company. Employees, who don't smoke, are able to take their breaks closer and return faster, making them more productive workers. There have no been proven medical side effects to smoking that can make workers less productive. Studies have shown that employees who smoke have higher levels of CO2 in their bloodstream. This can cause someone to be less efficient in their work. Employees who smoke have also been found to have more eye irritations and lower levels of concentration. This can lead to mistakes and the costs of time and money to do over problems.
• More absenteeism-Attendance records show that employees who smoke use more sick days, then non smoking employees. The average has been shown that employees who smoke can be absent from the workplace, as much as 50% higher, then other employees who don't smoke. This means that employers lose in productivity, the cost of sick days, and the cost of replacement help if needed. When a employee takes a sick day, the employer must then find someone to replace them, or redistribute the work to other employees which limits their productivity. This can be a high cost for an employer. In addition, it should be noted that employees who smoke are at much higher risk, for a variety of serious illness. Studies have shown that if a employee who smokes gets sick, it takes them much longer to recover. This means an extended cost for the employer in terms of sick days taken, health care costs, and replacement costs, for the employee while they are out.

Employers are seeing more and more the importance of offering smoking cessation courses for their employees. Eliminating smoking for the workplace, is not only a health benefit, but can be significant cost saving method as well.