Thinning the corporate herd; Whirlpool workers suspended for smoking
For years now we’ve seen our health care benefit costs rise on an annual basis. This is usually coupled with a slow but steady reduction in coverage. Some employers, like appliance manufacturer Whirlpool, have tried to help their employees curb these costs by offering certain health based incentives such as reduced premiums for non-smokers. Employees are required to sign a form stating that they do not use tobacco to receive the $500 per year benefit. The company does not require any additional blood or other tests, nor do they spy on employees away from work.
Given these loose requirements, 39 current employees (although arguably not the brightest) still find themselves suspended without pay and may lose their jobs after being spotted on company property using either smoke or chew tobacco after previously signing documents stating otherwise. Many of these Einsteins in waiting were observed in the companies outdoor smoke shelters, which begs the question; ‘How stupid are you?’. The best part is Whirlpool was forced to rehire some laid off employees due to the suspensions. Thanks dumb smoking guy!
Here’s how I read this; you work/live in Evansville IN where I’m guessing good jobs don’t grow on trees, you get a job at Whirlpool and they try to help you reduce your health care benefits by offering you a $500 incentive to not smoke (which really only applies to work, since they don’t test or monitor employees), you lack the common sense God gave my 14 month old and you go ahead and smoke at work and in the company smoking area, in front of your co-workers. The good news is after your unemployment benefits run out, you can go work at your local McDonalds. I’m fairly sure they don’t have a smoking policy and since maintaining a healthy lifestyle isn’t all that important, you’ll also get all the artery clogging goodness that McDonald’s is known for.
Until next time…
The Dreaded Finger…
OK, so I know this is my second non career oriented post of the week, but really do you need to hear more about how the job market is sucky (it’s a word, I checked) and not improving or that XYZ Company just screwed over their employees? Those things aren’t going to change and I’ll get back to them soon enough.
In the meantime, this morning I had my annual check-up with my doctor. Now, if you’re over 40 and the title of this post hasn’t clued you in on where I’m going, perhaps you haven’t been to the doctor recently. For the rest of you, I think you know where we’re headed. My doctor is Dr Leo Odle, I call him Dr Leo because it makes me think of the movie ‘What about Bob?’ which is a classic, although my Dr Leo looks nothing like Richard Dreyfuss and is much nicer (and thankfully gentler) than the one on the movie.
I’ve only been going to Dr Leo for a short time now. Those of you that know me, know I’m not a huge fan of going to the doctor even though I’ve spent plenty of time in emergency rooms and orthopedic surgeon offices in the last few years, but that’s a story for another time. Pre Dr Leo, I had another internist who I saw when necessary, but when I finally caved into my wifes repeated requests that I get a check up and called him, I found out he was dead! Yeah, dead and had been for several years. The new receptionist barely spoke English, so getting this information told me not only was my doc taking a dirt nap, but that his practice was now being run by an English as second language doc. Yeah, I felt a little silly, especially when I had to tell my wife.
After a vigorous search (read; I went to my insurance website and found the closest doctor whose name I could pronounce) I found Dr Odle and now we’re good friends, a little closer after today. When I first saw him 6 months ago, we did the routine check-up, ordered bloodwork, and then he informed me that we would do the prostate check the next time he saw me, which I suddenly wanted to be never. Fast forward 6 months and the inevitable could no longer be avoided and as much as I hoped he would forget about my prostate (kind like kids hoping the teacher forgets to assign homework), Dr Leo informed that that would indeed be part of our time together today.
I’m not going to try to draw any parallels between men and prostates and women and OB/GYN visits, although the idea of my feet in stirrups does make think it would be a little like playing ‘Cowboy’, but I’m sure that’s where the similarities would end. So with the pleasantries out of the way and the proverbial pat on the back for losing weight, we were left with only one task remaining. With visions from Fletch (you using the whole fist there doc?) in my head, Dr Leo took care of business. The good news, everything is OK, which I’m sure of due to the thoroughness of the exam, the bad news, we get to do it all again next year and judging by Dr Leo’s age and apparent good health seems to be a certainty.
Until next time…
UPS & the cost of guerilla marketing
I live in one of the those communities with a fancy name, which is another way of saying trac housing with exorbitant HOA dues. As such my neighbors and I are bombarded with every kind of marketing gimmick know to man. From ziploc bags of sand and rock from landscaping companies, to everykind of flyer you’ve ever seen, to refrigerator magnets, etc. We also get approximately 8 different free ‘community newspapers’ per week, which ultimately get wet in the gutter and eventually get thrown in the recycle bin on trash day. A great use of trees by the way.
Yesterday, I pulled a bag off our door left by my local UPS franchise. In it (see picture) were the following items; a retractable pen, a mint, a nail file and a coupon for $1 off UPS shipping. I don’t know why. My local UPS franchise is alrready my shipper of choice and I do ship probably a bit more stuff than the average person, so at first I thought maybe this was just a weird ‘thank you’ gimmick, until I noticed that everyone else got one too. So then I started thinking, what do these items mean? Is there a point? All the items were stamped ‘UPS Ground’, so I thought maybe that was the point of the nail file…grinding my nails…ground service? I know it’s a stretch, plus then what does the mint mean? It made my head hurt, so I took and aspirin and then I thought about if I or anyone would use these items.
- Mint candy; Mom always said never take candy from strangers. Even though I know my UPS people, there’s no way I’m eating that mint, not for $5 off shipping.
- Nail file; I’m married, which means my wife will undoubtedly have more and better nail files at my disposal should the need arise, so no to that one.
- Retracable pen; I’m not a pen snob , but I have better pens on my desk, so this one goes to the trash too.
- $1 off coupon; I love coupons, but this one will probably end up like the rest of my coupons, lost in or on my desk and eventually thrown out. I should have said I love coupons, but rarely remember to use them.
I have no idea what it cost my local UPS store to send this crap…er…stuff to my door, I’m guessing, less than a dollar, but still is this an effective use of marketing funds? I’m already a customer, as Renee Zellwegger said, ‘You had me at hello’.
Until next time…
