Vapers cost employers an average of $7,000 more per year in benefit costs, are often less productive, and open the employer to state and local law violations. Many employers now offer specific vaping cessation programs in addition to smoking cessation programs to control these extra costs.
Higher Healthcare Premiums
Premiums paid by employers for employee medical insurance are often 50% higher for vapers – since most don’t pass the entire cost on to employees, employers end up paying more to hire a vaper.
In 2023, employers in the U.S. paid an average of $7,034 (net, after employee premium payments) for annual single health insurance coverage and $17,393 for annual family coverage for non-vapers, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF). So, employers may pay $3,500 (single coverage) to $8,700 (family) more for each vaper, per year.
More Sick Days
According to a study done by NYU Grossman School of Medicine, “For full-time workers, past-month nicotine vaping was associated with an average of 1.46 days of work missed in the past month” and “10.4% of full-time workers vaped nicotine”.
Employers offering paid sick days can use these assumptions to estimate the cost in sick days for their team. For example, an employer with 100 employees earning an average of $50k per year would pay over $3,500 per year, per vaper, for extra vaper sick days. (to get the details of this calculation, DM the moderator)
Other Concerns
Since money talks, here are other impacts to employers who have vapers in their workplace”
Lower productivity: According to the Ex Program, “Smoke or vape breaks take a toll on what gets done. Productivity lost during smoke breaks accounts for approximately $3,077 in losses per year per smoker, based on an estimate of 5 smoke breaks throughout the workday. With vaping specifically, the impact could be even higher.
For example, we had an employer share with us that each e-cigarette user at its workplace takes 8 breaks per day. Unlike cigarettes that have a natural stopping point when the cigarette is gone, vape breaks have no defined “end.” This can translate into longer breaks—in addition to more frequent breaks.”
State laws: Many states and over a thousand municipalities have passed comprehensive clean indoor air laws that include e-cigarettes. As of September 2024, 20 states and the District of Columbia have comprehensive laws prohibiting the use of e-cigarettes in all indoor areas of private worksites, restaurants, and bars. Violating workplace clean air regulations can result in severe civil and criminal penalties, including substantial fines.
Nicotine Allergies and Drug Interactions: Vape smoke contains nicotine, just like cigarette smoke so it can trigger allergies and drug interactions in non-vaping employees. Symptoms can be mild or serious, including Anaphylaxis. Drugs impacted by nicotine include common over the counter medicines like Tylenal, Alive and Advil. Learn more at Medical News Today
combustible materials in e-cigarettes: When a vape “combusts” in the workplace, it is typically a battery fire or explosion caused by a faulty, damaged, or improperly charged lithium-ion battery.
The Solution: Vaping Cessation Programs
Vaping cessation programs help employers cut costs and improve employee health. At HabitHalo we offer small employers a low to no-cost pilot program for up to 20 vapers (employees or family members). We rent employers up to 20 RipLok devices (locking vape cases )at no charge for 90 days. After the 90 days, they return the devices to us. If an employer can’t return a device or the employee wants to keep it, it costs $60 – which employers can charge to the employee.
The RipLok iOS App that control the device is downloaded by each employee onto their own phone. They pay $4.99 per month for the app – a total of $14.97 for 90 days. The participant can cancel their app subscription at any time.
Interested in learning more? Go to our website and fill out this short form: https://habithalo.com/study-collaboration-interest-form/