Great idea, except...

Employers appear to be poised to start charging employees more for insurance if they're overweight, providing a financial incentive to improve their health. Sounds like a great idea, except it's illegal to discriminate in employment matters - including compensation - based on weight.

Overweight? Prepare to Pay Up
ABC News

With health-care costs rising, some large employers are taking radical new steps to cut corners. They're charging overweight employees a fee if they don't slim down.

It's a strategy companies have used for years with smokers, which has many people wondering whether these heavy-handed employer tactics are a sign of things to come.

It's not necessarily the wave of the future. While controlling costs is paramount for any business, the happiness and morale of its work force are also quite relevant. There are many people who believe that when employers start requiring weigh-ins and cholesterol checks, they've gone way too far.

So the issues of employee loyalty/satisfaction and privacy concerns, combined with some serious legal challenges, given the protection afforded to employees in the Americans with Disabilities Act — which says that employers can't discriminate on the basis of health — will be cause for concern among employers before they rush out to adopt this stance.

It's no secret that skyrocketing health-care costs are of concern to employers and employees alike. Each of us is paying for it, and our bosses are too. We'd all like to save money. But it's more than just obesity and smoking that contribute to those enormous premiums, which leads to several questions.

How far can — or should — an employer go? Do you penalize an employee with breast cancer because her treatment costs are astronomical? What about someone with a brain tumor or a skin disorder? Do you monitor alcohol intake to determine whether employees are showing up hungover and therefore aren't as productive as sober people?