Nowadays if we take a good look around us, we will see lots of companies are experimenting with rewarding people for weight loss and the best part is that the studies have proven that paying people to lose weight actually works and that lead them to lose their body weight. According to the article we heard about in class, the cash incentives can be a success even when the payout is as little as $7 for dropping just a few pounds. Companies will actually consider this option in order to find ways to cut future health-care costs within the company.
The question is, is this ethical? One can look at this issue in various perspectives. From what I think from a company’s perspective, this is not completely unethical, meaning it is ethical enough to implement it in the first place. In my opinion if I was a company own and I would want all my employers to be healthy members of the community. Someone who doesn’t think paying money to lose weight is not ethical might come up with ideas like providing onsite fitness centers or improving offerings in the company cafeterias in order to get employers to lose weight. But I think unlike these options, providing cash rewards provide a company with a guaranteed return. It won’t be a bad investment. However, some might say that it’s unfair for the people who are already balancing a healthy weight, and that everyone is not getting equal opportunities or incentives. In this matter, simply to compensate, employers could offer similar incentives to staff who maintain a healthy weight. At the same times along with those incentives providing employers incentives to attend coaching sessions for weight management etc. can help solve this issue as well.
A country where 66% of the people are overweight o ...