老板可能要你为胖身材买单

When Your Boss Makes You Pay for Being Fat老板可能要你为胖身材买单Are you a man with a waist measuring 40 inches or more? If you want to work at Michelin North America Inc., that spare tire could cost you.你的腰围达到或者超过40英寸了吗？如果你想在米其林北美公司(Michelin North America Inc.)工作，腰部的这些赘肉可能会让你付出代价。

Employees at the tire maker who have high blood pressure or certain size waistlines may have to pay as much as $1, 000 more for health-care coverage starting next year.从明年开始，这家轮胎制造企业里患有高血压或腰围达到一定尺寸的员工也许不得不额外支付多达1,000美元的医疗保险费用。

As they fight rising health-care costs and poor results from voluntary wellness programs, companies across America are penalizing workers for a range of conditions, including high blood pressure and thick waistlines. They are also demanding that employees share personal-health information, such as body-mass index, weight and blood-sugar level, or face higher premiums or deductibles.就在应对医保费用不断上升、自愿健康计划收效甚微的局面的同时，全美各地的企业开始对具有某些身体状况的员工实施惩戒措施，其中包括高血压和粗腰围。

他们还要求员工提供体质指数、体重和血糖浓度等个人健康信息，否则员工会面临更高的保费或自费额度。

Corporate leaders say they can't lower health-care costs without changing workers' habits, and they cite the findings of behavioral economists showing that people respond more effectively to potential losses, such as penalties, than expected gains, such as rewards. With corporate spending on health care expected to reach an average of $12, 136 per employee this year, according to a study by the consulting firm Towers Watson, penalties may soon be the new norm.公司领导说如果不改变员工的习惯，他们无法降低医保费用。

他们援引了行为经济学家的研究成果，认为相比奖励这样的预期收益，人们对罚金这样的潜在损失会做出更有效的反应。

根据韬睿惠悦咨询公司(T owers Watson)的一项研究，由于美国各公司今年在员工医疗保健方面的花费预计会达到人均12,136美元，处以罚金也许很快会成为大势所趋。

Employers may argue that tough-love measures, such as punishing workers who evade health screenings, benefit their staff and lower health-care costs. But such steps also portend a murky future in which a chronic condition, such as hypertension, could cost workers jobs or promotions─or prevent them from being hired in the first place.老板们也许会说，诸如处罚逃避体检的职员这种严爱式的措施可以使员工受益，并降低医疗保健费用。

不过这些措施对员工而言也预示着一个暗淡的前景，像高血压这样的慢性病可能会让员工失去工作或晋升机会──或者一开始就成为了妨碍他们被录用的障碍。

Until recently, Michelin awarded workers automatic $600 credits toward deductibles, along with extra money for completing health-assessment surveys or participating in a nonbinding 'action plan' for wellness. It adopted its stricter policy after its health costs spiked in 2012.就在不久前，米其林还一直针对自付费用部分向员工提供600美元的自动奖励金，以及用于健康评估调查或参加非约束性健康“行动计划”的额外资金。

2012年公司的医疗保健开支大幅上升之后米其林才采取了更为严格的政策。

Now, the company will reward only those workers who meet healthy standards for blood pressure, glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides and waist size─under 35 inches for women and 40 inches for men. Employees who hit baseline requirements in three or more categories will receive up to $1, 000 to reduce their annual deductibles. Those who don't qualify must sign up for a health-coaching program in order to earn a smaller credit.现在，这家公司只对那些在血压、血糖、胆固醇、甘油三酯和腰围──女士35英寸以下，男士40英寸以下──方面达到健康标准的员工予以奖励。

有三项及以上指标符合最低要求的员工会得到最高1,000美元的奖励，这样可以降低他们的年度自付部分的费用。

那些达不到要求的人则必须报名参加一个健康指导项目才能得到额度缩小的奖励金。

Employee-rights advocates say the penalties are akin to 'legal discrimination.' While companies are calling them wellness incentives, the penalties are essentially salary cuts by a different name, says Lew Maltby, president of Princeton, N.J.-based National Workrights Institute, a nonprofit advocacy group for employee rights in the workplace. 'No one ever calls a bad thing what it really is, ' he says. 'It means millions of people are getting their pay cut for no legitimate reason.'员工权益维护人士说这样的惩戒与“法律歧视”没什么区别。

卢•莫尔特比(Lew Maltby)是总部位于新泽西州普林斯顿(Princeton)的非盈利在职职工维权组织美国工作权利学会(National Workrights Institute)的主席，他说，虽然企业称之为健康激励机制，但是这些措施实质上是在以不同的名义减薪。

他说：“对于坏事情没有人会实话实说。

它意味着数以百万计的人在毫无合法理由的情况下被减了薪。

”Companies may say they have tried softer approaches, but many haven't exhausted their options, like putting healthier food in their cafeterias, building a fitness center or subsidizing gym memberships, he adds. 'At best, these programs are giving employers an enormous amount of control over our private lives.'他还说，企业也许会说他们已经尝试了更柔性的手段，但其实很多企业都还没有倾尽全力，比如在食堂里提供更健康的食品、建立健身中心或者补贴健身房会员费。

“这些计划充其量是让老板大大增加了对我们的私生活的控制。

”Michelin denies any discrimination and says the policy is voluntary. Not participating means employees won't get the incentives. Wayne Culbertson, Michelin's chief human resources officer, says the old incentive programs didn't lead to meaningful change. For example, an employee could pledge to start walking daily, he says, but never have to prove it. 'It was sort of free, you know? You got $600 just for being a good employee.'米其林否认有任何歧视，声称这项政策是自愿的。