Employers slap fees on workers who smoke

Smokers get a heads up:

Employers straining to hold down soaring health care costs have turned to more aggressive tactics, such as penalizing workers who smoke.

A few employers — including Northwest Airlines, Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. and the state of Georgia — have started levying surcharges for employees who smoke. Gannett Inc., which publishes The Des Moines Register and has 1,150 employees in Iowa, will add a $50 monthly surcharge starting in January for smokers who use its insurance plans.

To support surcharges, companies cite federal government studies showing that a smoker costs an employer $5,606 extra per year because of higher medical expenses and absenteeism.

Still, some benefits and civil rights experts wonder whether overweight people or bad drivers could be singled out next.

Hopefully this will become the beginning of the trend of no health insurance at work.