At WEYCO, Inc, a proactive plan for promoting healthy lifestyles has eliminated tobacco use among all employees and almost 90% of spouses.

Located in Okemos, Michigan, WEYCO, INC, a Meritain Health Company, is a service company specializing in employee benefit plans and benefit management. Thanks to an aggressive strategy to completely eliminate tobacco use among its workforce, today the company's 175+ employees are entirely tobacco-free. Over 90% of employee spouses are tobacco free as well.

How did WEYCO successfully create its tobacco-free team? Through a phased plan that's part of the company's wider-scale commitment to health.

First, in 2003, WEYCO, implemented a policy of not hiring tobacco users. The company also made its campus entirely tobacco-free and prohibited employees from taking off-campus breaks. "If you want to eliminate tobacco in your workplace, you have to stop it at the front door," says Howard Weyers, President of WEYCO. "You can offer tobacco cessation, but if you continue to hire smokers it will be a never ending problem."

Next, WEYCO began voluntary tobacco testing in January 2004. Any employee who refused the test or who tested positive was assessed a fee of $50 a month. The assessment was waived if the employee signed a letter of intent to quit, and WEYCO paid for a cessation treatment of the employee's choice for 12 months.

A year later, the company upped the stakes by telling employees if they refused the tobacco test or if they tested positive, they would lose their jobs. "We gave the employees 15 months to quit the habit," says Weyers.

"In January 2005, we had four employees who did not want to test and subsequently decided to leave the company because they did not want to give up the habit," Weyers continues.

Random tobacco testing commenced in March of 2005, and WEYCO continues to test at least six times a year. "If an employee tests positive, he is sent home for a month without pay to think about what he has done," Weyers says. After the month suspension, if the employee wishes to return, he is retested. If the test is positive, employment is terminated. If the retest is negative, the employee can return to work, but must sign a "last chance agreement" that permits WEYCO to test daily if the company chooses to do so. If the employee tests positive in a subsequent test, employment is terminated.

In January 2006, WEYCO extended its tobacco policy to spouses. annually. If the spouse refuses to test or tests positive, the employee is assessed $50 per pay period or $1,300 a year. The assessment is waived if the spouse signs a letter of intent to quit. WEYCO will pay for treatment for 12 months.

"The fact is, tobacco use will create a medical episode, it's just a matter of time," says Weyers. "Doing everything to prevent these episodes before they happen just makes sense. It keeps our population healthy, our health-related costs down, and our employees as productive as possible."

The tobacco policy is part of WEYCO's overall health improvement/maintenance program. The program requires employees and spouses to have annual physical, dental and vision exams and to complete a health risk appraisal and biometric evaluation. Employees and spouses are also required to meet with the company's Lifestyle Coordinator every six months for a progress evaluation.

"We have a very progressive and aggressive health improvement culture at our worksite. If someone wants to work here, they need to understand that a commitment to a healthy lifestyle is part of our culture," says Weyers. "I think every employer should be taking steps to improve the health status of their employees and spouses if they are interested in managing future health-related costs. We have developed a strategy to do it here at WEYCO, and I'm confident that we are doing the right thing for our employees and their spouses. Our goal is not only to improve the worksite health culture, but the homesite health culture also."

"Health starts with the individual. We want to provide strong support for our employees and spouses in improving and/or maintaining a healthy lifestyle."

For more information about WEYCO's proactive plan for promoting healthy lifestyles, visit the company online at www.weyco.com or email Howard Weyers at howardw@weyco.com.

Click here to learn more about creating your own tobacco-free hiring policy. Or click here to read how other employers are successfully addressing tobacco in the workplace.