Employee obesity remains a taboo subject for many employers, despite growing evidence that weight and fitness can affect productivity and absence at work.

Workplaces often foster poor fitness and dietary habits, for example:

• Technology allows people to email colleagues instead of walking to workstations to talk to colleagues;
• Vending machines often dispense high-calorie snacks and drinks rather than healthier options;
• Lifts in offices mean that people do not always make use of the stairs;
• Working patterns, such as shift work, encourage poor eating habits with employees eating inappropriate foods at unusual times of the day; 
• Those working overtime may be too tired to take regular exercise.

Obesity often starts in childhood with many obese children going on to become obese adults.  Obese individuals may develop low self-esteem, poor self-image, depression, mobility problems and other obesity-related diseases.

Employers are legally obliged in some circumstances to make reasonable adjustments to the workplace and jobs to accommodate obese people under the Disability Discrimination Act.  Obesity is covered by disability legislation if it is associated with an underlying, ongoing medical condition; even without the presence of such a condition, an obese person could have rights to redress under general discrimination law, depending on the circumstances involved.

The Cost to the Individual

The scale of obesity discrimination in the workplace has been revealed by a survey carried out by the weight loss organisation, Slimming World, where one in four people said they have suffered negative comments about their weight while at work.

In a statement on its website, Slimming World said that those who are very overweight are twice as likely to earn a low salary, four times more likely to suffer bullying about their weight and six times more likely to feel their appearance has caused them to miss out on promotion.

More than 2,000 British adults over the age of 18 were surveyed by pollsters YouGov in the study for Slimming World. 

Of these, 227 were employers. Respondents were asked to comment on their attitudes towards obesity in the workplace.

Their responses were matched to their size measured according to a calculation of height and weight known as the Body Mass Index (BMI).

The survey found that people in the highest weight category (BMI 40+) were four times more likely to “never” feel confident and twice as likely to dread applying for a new job.

Male employers were particularly prejudicial.  One in four of the surveyed male bosses say they would turn down a potential candidate because of their weight and one in ten admitted to having already done so.

Tips to Tackle Obesity in the Workplace

Employers have an essential role to play in tackling obesity at work.  An individual’s health will affect behaviour and underpin the individual’s capability to perform at work. Tips to tackle obesity in the workplace include:

• Review the food available at work - are there healthy choices in canteens, snack bars, vending machines and can these be improved or subsidised? 
• Biscuits, cakes or sweets available during conferences or meetings could be substituted with fruit;
• Encourage the use of stairs and make them more attractive to use by displaying artwork or posting company notices etc;
• Encourage exercise through the installation of bike racks and the introduction of a ‘bike pool’ for example;
• Contact national chains of health clubs and arrange reduced membership rates for employees
• Introduce flexi-time to reduce stress levels;
• Consider increasing employee awareness by arranging talks on health-related issues which will encourage employees to become more active and healthy;
• Consider setting up activity clubs and encourage employees to take part in departmental tournaments.