HR.BLR.com Poll Suggests Job Hunters Should Lose Weight before Starting Their Job Search
A recent online survey at the website for human resource professionals, HR.BLR.com, suggests losing a few pounds could be the best tactic an overweight person can use to increase the success of their job search.
Old Saybrook, CT (PRWEB) June 2, 2005 -- Dropping a few pounds might be the
best thing an overweight person can do to help improve their chances of landing
a good job. At least that’s what the results of an online poll at HR.BLR.com, a
website for human resource professionals, suggest.
The poll asked HR
managers, “Has someone's weight ever influenced your decision on whether to hire
him or her?” The responses broke down this way:
Yes – 25%
Maybe
unconsciously – 35%
No – 40%
The poll, conducted May 12-19, drew 552
participants.
“While federal law bars discrimination on the basis of
sex, religion, age, race, or national origin, it does not expressly prohibit
discrimination on the basis of physical appearance, such as weight,” observed
Susan Prince, managing editor at Business & Legal Reports, which operates
HR.BLR.com. “Some workers and applicants who believe they’ve been unjustly
treated for being overweight have sought protection under the federal Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA), but the courts have generally ruled that obesity
does not meet the ADA’s definition of a disability.”
Nevertheless, Prince
added, at least one state and a couple of municipalities have their own laws
prohibiting weight discrimination or discrimination on the basis of appearance,
so employers need to be cognizant of them.
Prince also speculated that
employers might be avoiding overweight applicants because of obesity’s negative
impact on health insurance costs. She stressed, however, that those who
participated in this poll weren’t asked about that.
HR.BLR.com, “State HR
Answers and Tools Online,” provides subscribers with plain-English analysis of
the workplace laws in all 50 states. And for HR professionals who need to know
what the ADA does cover, BLR offers a free download, “Managing Disabilities in
the Workplace”: http://www.blr.com/82008400/PRS17
About BLR
Old
Saybrook, Conn.-based BLR produces plain-English compliance and training
resources for HR, compensation, safety, and environmental managers. For more
information and a free catalog, call 800-727-5257 or visit www.BLR.com.
Contact:
HR.BLR.com Managing Web Editor Kevin
Flood
860 510-0100 x 2283
# # #
Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/6/prweb246802.htm