PUNISHING SMOKERS DOESN'T HELP THEM QUIT.

• Position: YOUR LIFE - Brief article

Statistics show that smoking employees cost employers $6,000 more than nonsmoking workers. This is due to health issues as well as pre-sentism--when an employee is present but not truly working (such as if he or she is on a smoke break).

In an attempt to even out this hefty cost, some states allow insurance companies to charge 50% higher premiums for smokers than nonsmokers for individual health plans, while many small businesses also make smokers pay a fee for their nicotine habit.

'You can't just impose a 'smoking tax' on your employees and expect the pain of that to make them quit," says leadership coach Jack Skeen, author of The Circle Blueprint: Decoding the Conscious and Unconscious Factors that Determine Your Success.

"Smokers know that smoking is bad for them. They know it is robbing them of health, wealth, and respect. They know that it makes their clothes smell and their loved ones worried for them. Research proves this--70% of smokers want to quit; they just don't know how."

Skeen indicates that, if employers...