Expensive Employees Personal habits and physical traits can prevent you from getting hiredAcing a job interview involves more than simply demonstrating your skills and making a good first impression these days. Erik J. Martin |
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Consequently, personal habits and physical traits such as smoking and being overweight are being more thoroughly scrutinized.Case in point:
Businesses like Weyco and Scotts Miracle-Gro have implemented policies in recent years to terminate employees who smoke on or off the job. And according to Mercer, a benefits consulting firm, 16% of America's largest employers now make employees who smoke pay more than nonsmokers for health insurance. Ken Golding, president, Golding Corporate Wellness, Los Angeles, says five conditions in particular can prevent you from getting hired in the current corporate world: Obesity, depression, hypertension, high cholesterol and musculoskeletal disorders such as lower back pain. "Obesity is quickly replacing smoking as the number one expensive liability for a potential employer," says Thomas B.
Gilliam, president, Industrial Physical Capability Services (IPCS), Inc., Hudson, Ohio. He says that IPCS research indicates that costs related to obese employees have grown from 29% of the new hire pool in 2001 to 39% in 2007.
"The obese worker will cost a company about $2,000 more per year in added health care claims and another $500 per year in lost productivity."The good news for job interviewees is that federal and state laws ban prospective employers from asking particular questions unrelated to the position for which they are hiring - including queries about gender, race, marital status, disabilities, country of origin, religion, birthplace, age and sexual preferences. During a job interview or when filling out an employment application, "an employer can only ask questions that are pertinent to completing the essential functions of the job," Gilliam says.
Be aware, though, that "testing specific to completing the essential functions of the job can be done, such as physical capability testing."This can also include blood or urine testing "based on the line of work one is being considered for, particularly when it involves safety of self and others as in jobs involving heavy equipment operating, transporting others or physical activity," Golding says.Keep in mind that job offers can be made that are contingent upon the successful completion of all other testing the employer feels is necessary or is in compliance with the procedures they've established, says Jeff Garton, founder of Career Contentment, Inc., Riverwoods, Ill.Pre-existing medical conditions, however, are not fair-game topics for discussion during employment interviews, Garton says.
"After a decision is made to hire, most companies require the completion of a medical examination, and pre-existing conditions, if discovered, should be addressed by the relevant health benefit policies," he says.
"However, an employer can ask if the candidate can perform the job as described and thereafter determine if they can accommodate any disabilities that were disclosed."A job interviewee's pregnancy can even be a sticky issue, Garton says. "If the candidate is obviously pregnant, the employer should have the right to know the candidate's intentions regarding their return to work plans," he says. Garton says the biggest liability faced by any employer "is when a candidate misrepresents him- or herself intentionally through some form of inflation or puffery or unintentionally through projections - bestowing on the employer qualities they don't actually possess - and then later complaining that job and employer were misrepresented."Ultimately, if you want a job badly enough, it's probably best to answer any questions you're asked to avoid looking like you're hiding something, he says. "But if the candidate doubts whether a question is appropriate to their ability to do the job, they should inquire why the question is necessary to make an employment decision," Garton says.
"Any inappropriate question asked during an interview should alert the candidate that the employer is either unsophisticated, insensitive to legal concerns or stupid, and they should probably look elsewhere."When it comes to volunteering personal facts that may leave a lasting favourable impression, Rachelle J. Canter, PhD., president, RJC Associates, San Francisco, Calif., is all for it. "Mentioning positive facts about your health during a job interview - such as no drinking and smoking and a regular fitness regimen - can work to your advantage in the same way that volunteering positives about your skills, accomplishments and track record can," Canter says. But be careful not to sound too "preachy or judgmental. Don't brag about your latest triathlon while sneering at a chubby interviewer. It won't win you points and may cost you a job."The bottom line, Garton says, is that "anything you say can and will be used to support you or disqualify you. A rule of thumb is 'loose lips sink ships.' Keep your responses positive and limited to what you're asked, and do your best to answer them completely and honestly."Lastly, before attending a job interview, put yourself in the shoes of the prospective employer and think about tailoring your answers to their questions based on the various hiring criteria they probably need to follow, Golding says."An employer needs to consider the future of the company, the cost of training, cost of replacing, as well the cost of insuring individuals with high-risk behaviour and the surrounding work environment for the sake of others," he says.
"Today's employers are looking to save or make money, not spend money.
They are looking for someone coming in to contribute to that process, to be an asset, not a liability."
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