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But it also disgusting having an obese person waddling around the work place. It presents a poor image, demonstrates little to no self control, is an example of reverse discrimination when the 'healthy' employees have to make up for the obese person's limitations, and is an example of poor health in action. If there is customer interaction involved, it is also unfair to make a customer sit and interact with someone who has rolls of fat dripping from their frame.
It costs the employer in many ways to have fat people in their employ, and as such, they can probably make a legal decision not to employ them.
Just because we as a society tend to have an "overweight" issue across much of our population doesn't make it acceptable to force an employer to hire a truly obese person, for a variety of reasons.
That's a terrible assumption to make.
I actually have a medical condition where the SIDE EFFECT of the condition is obesity. My condition is not a side effect of obesity, obesity is a side affect of my condition. I have to work twice as hard as a "normal" person, be TWICE as diligent, etc, just to maintain my weight. Meetings are full of bagels, cookies, and donuts but I can't/don't partake in them. Even when my coworkers say "one donut won't hurt" I have to say "yes it does." I am not grossely overweight, my doctor is happy with my weight given my condition, but I am still overweight.
I also work out 2-4 times a week and hike on weekends, and I will never be thin unless I stop eating (even then it'd take a while), but I can guarantee I have more self control than a thin person.
Maybe not all people overweight because of a medical condition, but IMO food is the worst addiction to have. At least you don't need to drink alcohol or snort cocaine to live and therefore can overcome that addiction, unlike food which you need to eat to live.
Most people assume laziness. It's also distracting. I've found generally it goes hand in hand with depression- which isn't something you generally want in a worker. It all depends on the job, of course. For computer programming, it's difficult not to find someone who is overweight. In sales, it's not going to help and would appear to be a legitimate reason to NOT hire someone.
funny. theres not one extremely obese person in my IT dept.
Your IT dept is computer programming? I don't know what industry you are in, but outside of computer software companies, most IT dept. do not have computer programmers.
But it also disgusting having an obese person waddling around the work place. It presents a poor image, demonstrates little to no self control, is an example of reverse discrimination when the 'healthy' employees have to make up for the obese person's limitations, and is an example of poor health in action. If there is customer interaction involved, it is also unfair to make a customer sit and interact with someone who has rolls of fat dripping from their frame.
It costs the employer in many ways to have fat people in their employ, and as such, they can probably make a legal decision not to employ them.
Just because we as a society tend to have an "overweight" issue across much of our population doesn't make it acceptable to force an employer to hire a truly obese person, for a variety of reasons.
I have worked at two jobs where I had a morbidly obese co-worker. One from just over-eating and junk food and the other was actually genetic. The first one (junk food eater) had no desire whatsoever to lose weight, and made the claims to all of us that he would "live as he saw fit." However, the company made no special accommodations for him, he had no handicapped parking, etc. He was what he was and that's the way (uh huh, uh huh) he liked it (uh huh, uh huh).
The second co-worker was (or is, she's not dead) a woman who is genetically predisposed to obesity. She eats well, exercises as much as she can, doesn't smoke or drink. She expressed interest in bypass surgery, but her doctor is apprehensive due to other physical problems she has. She has the most seniority at the firm among the support staff and is very much the "go to" girl when there are problems with forms, and what not.
At this point in time, for myself, anyway, my hindrance is my age. Regardless of the fact that I do not look 59 (was told last week I look 40), as soon as they look at my resume and do the math, they can figure out how old I am.
Your IT dept is computer programming? I don't know what industry you are in, but outside of computer software companies, most IT dept. do not have computer programmers.
you blew my mind. I code yes. I'm a programmer yes. I enhance the functionality of vendor software yes. I used to work for a software shop
Obesity is genetic? Where is the medical evidence for such a statement?
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