The government’s new obesity strategy contains a number of elements including a call to action to help people lose weight and advance the adoption of weight management practices, seemingly focusing more on future prevention rather than on measures to help those who already live with obesity. Some critics of the strategy argue that its emphasis on ‘eat less and do more’ simplifies the complex causes of obesity (including economic and social-inequality factors) and underplays any co-morbid conditions that those living with obesity may also have.
However, the government's strategy does not include any explicit role for employers and what they can do to help those of working age, even though it is estimated that obesity accounts for up to 16 million lost working days in the UK each year. Research suggests that the workplace can both add to and be affected by obesity, and that there are many barriers that are yet to be addressed to help ensure the needs of those living with obesity and effectively supported. Discrimination and stigmatisation of people living with obesity is still prevalent in employment, with common negative stereotypes including that they are lazy, unmotivated, lacking in self-discipline, less competent and non-compliant.
There is evidence to suggest that employees living with obesity have been subject to poor workplace practices including: discrimination in recruitment practices, which can play on stereotypes about whether people living with obesity have desirable characteristics or organisational ‘fit’, pay disparities (employees living with overweight or obesity reporting reduced wages even when all other factors were controlled for), and discriminatory practices resulting in fewer progression and promotion opportunities.
So, what can employers do to help those living with obesity remain in work and what is the role of workplace health promotion? Previous polices like those developed by NICE (2006) and the Public Health Responsibility Deal emerged as a result of the increased understanding that the workplace can have an impact on an individual’s ability to maintain a ‘healthy weight’, but also that obesity prevention and management can help organisational costs and improved productivity.
Common workplace obesity interventions focus primarily on both diet and lifestyle modifications and weight management support, but organisational stigma and a lack of employer awareness about the complexity and causes of obesity are still a barrier to intervention implementation.
It is worth bearing in mind that UK employers are bound by the 2016 European Court of Justice ruling (the Kaltoft case) which means that many health conditions associated with obesity are now considered ‘protected characteristics’ under equalities legislation. This means, at the very least, a review of recruitment, promotion and reward practices is needed to ensure that people living with obesity are not adversely impacted.
It also suggests that more employers need to consider interventions that are designed to meet the needs of their employees, but also tackle the underlying stigma and educational understanding of the nature and causes of obesity to best manage organisational practices. It is also important to ensure that the elevated risks of Covid-19 for those living with obesity do not lead to further discrimination as organisations return to a ‘new normal’ and as employers re-open post lockdown, and reasonable adjustments are implemented to help those living with obesity remain in employment and have a positive experience of work.
Zofia Bajorek is research fellow at the Institute of Employment Studies (IES)
