Using monetary rewards to help smoking employees quit

02/20/09

Looking for the best way to encourage employees to quit smoking? New research reveals that cash incentives may be the most effective method to help your workers quit smoking for good.

The study, led by a team from the University of Pennsylvania and published by the New England Journal of Medicine, is one of the largest of its kind and provides some of the strongest evidence tying monetary rewards to behavioral changes.

Smoking is one of the leading causes of premature death in the U.S. and believed to kill about 480,000 Americans every year. Only a small percentage of smokers who try to quit each year actually find permanent success.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a contributor to the study, smoking costs organizations $3,400 per smoking employee annually in higher health-care bills, reduced productivity and increased absenteeism.

As part of the most recent study, researchers tracked almost 900 General Electric employee from across the U.S. for 18 months in 2005 and 2006. Employees involved in the study smoked an average of one pack of cigarettes a day. The employees were divided into two groups and both received information regarding smoking-cessation programs.

One group received up to $750 in cash, doled out in increments, to encourage long-term abstinence. The paid participants were awarded $100 for completing a smoking-cessation program, $250 if they stopped smoking within six months of enrolling in the program, and $400 for remaining abstinent from smoking for another six months.

Almost 15% of the group given financial incentives had stopped smoking within one year of the study, compared to only 5% of the non-paid group.

While the study does have its critics, it provides some evidence that incentives work when encouraging employees to make a behavioral change like quitting smoking.

Keeping smokers on board can cost up to $3,400 per employee, but getting them to kick the habit may only cost companies hundreds. While most businesses would prefer not to pay employees to quit, especially in our current economy, it’s well worth the investment.