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I'd imagine a severely obese person would have more health issues and miss more work. And it's unpopular to say but obesity can be a sign of some other issues that wouldn't make them the best employees out there.
I'm sorry, but 500 lb person around little kids is a huge safety issue. What will end with a minor injury, when a 120-140 lb woman will slip and fall on a kid, in this case will end with an instant death.
I have worked with some morbidly obese people before and from my experience they are a real challenge to work with. Everything from hygiene to health issues has come up repeatedly (one suddenly died on a weekend). I understand they are struggling and the legalities about not hiring someone based on health, but I can also understand why a company would absolutely not want to hire someone like that.
Sadly, I agree. Anywhere I've ever worked, obese people have been less reliable and more likely to miss work. It has taken them longer to recover from illness (which they're often more prone to due to co-morbid conditions) and they also take more time off work for doctor appointments if they have obesity-related conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, etc. This is especially problematic if they're over 40.
Obviously that doesn't apply to every obese person. There are several obese employees in my department. There's no issue whatsoever with the actual work they do, their personalities, their intellects, their talents, etc. But they are absent much more often than employees in the same age range that are a healthy weight.
But how is that any different than discriminating against height?
I understand certain jobs you need to be a certain height... flight attendant for example b/c you need to be able to reach certain things... BUT to be a rockette in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, one needs to be 5'6"... why?
How is this legal? They are not trying to reach anything... is it because they are trying to achieve a certain look & make all the women look a certain height? Maybe so... but how is that legal?
Correct. 525 pounds isn't 200 or 150 pounds. And we're talking about a lady who was trying to get a job as a day care provider, in which her job was to insure the welfare of children. What if an accident happened and one of the kids needed CPR? Would she have the stamina to perform it for 20 minutes, or even 5 minutes? What about helping a child off playground equipment if they were stuck? In a job where the safety of kids is at stake, a morbidly obese woman should not be hired.
I'd like to see better data for sure, there also should be some broader categories and see if there is a difference based on how overweight someone is. There is probably some sort of index like slight overweight, moderately overweight and severely overweight. And then compare the results on pay/jobs/etc.
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Originally Posted by Girl
Agreed.
I'm overweight (but not THAT overweight), and recently received an offer for a new job less than 24 hours after my in-person interview. In fact, as I was LEAVING the interview they pretty much told me the job was mine. I start at the new company after the holidays.
Similar experience here.
As I got more experience job hunting became easier. Generally speaking, if I make it to the in-person interviews, I get an offer about 60-65% of the time. I wouldn't know if I am getting paid less, but my anecdotal evidence seems to indicate I have done decently at negotiating a higher wage, at least at companies I've landed at. But maybe I am not getting invited to the absolute best-paid roles. That I would have no clue about. But at the moment I am overpaid for my job title and it has made my current job hunt a bit trickier.
There may have been a few jobs where I was rejected for appearance reasons but I'd also chalk it up to other mitigating factors. There is a lot of culture fit BS in my industry (tech) and people make weird decisions based on how much fun they think someone will be at happy hour!
When your weight is out of sync in proportion to your body, your moods are generally also out of sync also.
It's best to get yourself together good enough before applying for a job although you cannot blame anyone for using a job to get in shape.
A security guard position might be perfect for someone who is morbidly obese.
Not at all. Most guards patrol. On foot. My husband walked about five miles a day at his job. Till he got promoted.
Overweight? Shouldn't really be a big deal to have in the office. Most Americans are overweight anyways.
Now, 525 isn't overweight. It's morbidly obese. Imagine the health issues that come w/ that. How often will the worker be out of office for doc visits? Can't roll out of bed and get to work? Make it to meetings down the hallway?
Funny. After this barrage of complaints....I think it really attractive women that will have a hard time getting hired.
On that note, an obese person in the office would possibly give off a bad vibe.
I had a coworker mention that at one of his previous jobs, there were a series of sexual harassment incidents that That lead the company to hire women who only 400 lbs. or over. I got the vibe that it wasn't literally over that, but just generally overweight.
But how is that any different than discriminating against height?
I understand certain jobs you need to be a certain height... flight attendant for example b/c you need to be able to reach certain things... BUT to be a rockette in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, one needs to be 5'6"... why?
How is this legal? They are not trying to reach anything... is it because they are trying to achieve a certain look & make all the women look a certain height? Maybe so... but how is that legal?
There are height requirements for some jobs that I've observed or heard of:
ACTUAL height REQUIREMENTS
Firefighters have minimum height requirements. I picked this up in an episode of Rescue Me, but recall it to be true
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For the Rockettes, I'd reckon it goes a long way towards working together. I've seen their shows. In person, and several times later on via video. They don't just do their own dance routine. Their choreography is together. When they join together and do high kicks, the cannon scene where the person in front of them falls backwards into them rinse and repeat (this may be "off" if their height differs too much)... etc. If nothing else, it looks good too.
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Hollywood used to and still does IIRC. They wanted to maintain that romantic look of men being taller than women. As such, actresses who were too tall were denied roles. In one case, they joked that they could dig a hole and she could stand in it.
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Bouncers, and those "goon like guys" that work on the Jerry Springer show need to be a certain height, and be able to physically restrain people.
IDEAL height requirements
Fighter pilots may not have max height requirements, but the cockpits in fighter jets are cramped. I've talked with one such person who said it's better to not be too tall in that environment.
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Ditto with working in a submarine, where it's also cramped all around
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