Posted on 10/29/2014 7:24:06 AM PDT by TurboZamboni
Federal officials are challenging new benefit rules at Honeywell Inc. that create monetary penalties unless employees and spouses take medical tests.
A lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in response to complaints from two Minnesota employees sets up a potential court case over how far employers can go to shift health costs and influence worker behavior.
The agency said in the suit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, that new health screening and penalties at Honeywell violate the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act.
“Employees will be penalized if they or their spouses do not take the biometric tests,” the complaint said.
In response to the suit, Honeywell said its screening program is designed to encourage employees to live more healthfully and thereby create lower health care costs for themselves and the company. The company said the program complies with health care-related laws, including the Affordable Care Act.
The EEOC has requested a temporary injunction to stop the employee testing, which was scheduled to begin last week at various sites across the country.
Honeywell, based in Morristown, N.J., was started in Minneapolis and remains a major employer in the Twin Cities area, with a research center in Golden Valley and other operations in Plymouth, Coon Rapids and Minneapolis.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
Many businesses, large and small, have been into employee wellness programs since the early eighties. Controlling runaway health costs by keeping the employee healthy is the goal. I can personally witness to the fact)
It’s only okay when the government does it.
Government is just a name for the violations of the Constitution we do together.
Yeah, I wonder what Michelle would have to say about this...
Honeywell is penalizing workers for not participating, the politically correct way would be to overcharge everyone but give credits and discounts to those who participates....like the company I work for does.
Our government overlords probably intend to lose the suit. The precedent will be set, then expect further intrusion into people’s lives. I envision one day being required to record and report my exact diet, on a daily basis, to The Ministry of Caloric Intake—or else.
Camera’s will be required in homes to guarantee compliance, eventually. But that will be later, when Obamacare has come to fully control us.
Moochelle in your breakroom refrigerator?
Checking your bank records for fast food receipts?
About a year ago, I left a company that had the same penalties.
They just need to assign a company drone to monitor them for good behavior.
have the Progressive Automonitor for their car, too.
Flo can come discipline them for infractions.
Oh, nevermind- you don’t have to get car insurance from your employer.
Pardon me, but: Is that your stance on this article about Honeywell requiring its employees AND THEIR SPOUSES to submit to biometric measurements?
Regards,
Our programs were always voluntary with incentives. But wellness programs are good and the company makes the rules, not the government - good or bad. In some companies that dealt with the public they would require employees be clean shaven and dressed well. If a company has runaway health costs I can understand making participation in a wellness program a condition for employment.
Not yet.
let’s pay at the pump
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