Apartment Industry Study Explores Smoking Rates Among Employees

Apartment Industry Study Explores Smoking Rates Among Employees

A group of multifamily housing property management industry human resource (HR) professionals are working together to decrease the number of smokers within the apartment industry workforce and promote healthier lifestyles for those employees and their families.

Towards this effort, a small work-group comprised of HR professionals at AMLI Residential, Archstone, Milestone Management, Equity Residential, Banner Property Management, Waterton Residential and Post Properties collaborated with Lockton Companies, an employee benefits consulting firm, to develop and conduct an industry-wide survey to evaluate current smoking prevalence rates, the types of smoking cessation assistance programs offered, and methods for incenting participation in these programs.

The survey was conducted September 2010 with report findings (and a companion white paper) released Oct. 29, 2010.

Survey Participants. Forty-seven companies representing in excess of 30,000 covered employee lives completed the survey.

Key survey findings:

• While most companies didn’t track tobacco use in their workforce, for the 34% that did, their results mirrored the U.S. adult population at large with a prevalence rate of ~21%.

• Just over half the respondents (53%) reported offering some form of tobacco assistance as defined in this survey.
• 36% of those not currently offering any program elements plan to offer at least one next year.

• 45% offered tobacco cessation assistance designed to help people successfully quit tobacco use (i.e., Free & Clear, quitnet.com, state-based tobacco quit lines, American Lung Association, wellness vendor, EAP or medical carrier based program).

• Of the 25 companies offering some form of tobacco cessation assistance as defined in the survey, 36% provide a contribution incentive for non tobacco users, and 76% provide coverage for smoking cessation drugs and/or nicotine replacement therapy (NRT)

• None of the survey respondents said they offered other types of incentives for non-tobacco users (i.e., gift card, one time paycheck contribution, FSA contribution, HSA/HRA contribution).

Those interested in obtaining a copy of the survey results and white paper can contact Leslie Silverman from AMLI Residential at 312/283-4885 or lsilverman@amli.com or Ken Wexler from Lockton Companies at 312/669-6787 or ken.wexler@lockton.com.