Thursday, February 12

You can make money if you stop smoking!

Yes, yes, it is true and it has been tested!

"Smokers are three times more likely to kick the habit for at least six months when they are paid up to $750" says the BBC article titled "Cash bribes 'help smokers quit'". This study, conducted among 900 General Electric Co. workers across 85 sites in the US (To see the results of the study, check out the New England Journal of Medicine) is a federally funded, University of Pennsylvania study which began in 2005. 

According to the results of this study, 15% of the group that was offered money was smoke- free in about a year in comparison to only 5% who weren't paid to give up the bad habit.

In  a way paying your employees to make them quit smoking doesn't sound effective, but you would be surprised how much a company might save as a result of less illness and more productivity.

In fact, GE was so impressed with the results of the study, that it plans to offer the same program nationwide for the next year. The company might actually save an estimated $50 million annually in extra health and other costs for smoking employees.

But I also think that such incentives might kill the whole personal strength/resistance because at the end of the day, not everyone is offered money to quit, it has to be done by the individuals themselves. But hey, the study has been successful, maybe there can be exceptions after all!

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