So my employer supports healthy eating habits

They want us to make the "right choices" in what we eat and actually keep track of it online to get discounts on insurance each quarter. I guess that is fine and dandy if it weren't for a few things. First, once we are at work we are not allowed to leave. If you leave for any reason, a doctor's appoint, a leaky roof at home, a sick kid at school, to get lunch (if you forgot to bring it) you are hit with an absence. One time we had an issue at home and my wife needed me there so I clocked out at 11:59 AM. I only live 2 miles from work and was able to help her out and get back to work by 12:21 PM. I was gone a total of 22 minutes yet I got hit with an absence so it was like I wasn't even there. I have even asked management that "if you are going to charge people an absence for the day like that what is the incentive to come back? If you are gonna dock me the whole day then why bother coming back at all?". 

Second (back to the eating healthy), if you forget your lunch or are forced over on overtime for 16 hours they have refrigerated vending machines. I walked by one earlier and saw this:



Now, first of all WHY would I want to eat ANYTHING called a "Big Az" when all it will do is MAKE you have one! They have several of these, God only knows the expiration date on them and yet they want us to eat healthy? And there was this one:



Maybe that "Big Az" is more healthy because it comes fortified with veggies (or one veggie - jalapenos). They also have Big Az breakfast sandwiches. I wouldn't dare eat ANYTHING out of that machine. If I were hungry enough I would play it safe and go with what I know - A Snickers or Twix... Yeah they are unhealthy but I bet they are not near as bad as a Big Az Jalapeno Burger! 

So about the only way to get outta work when something happens is to get FMLA which just about everyone has done. And now they cry about FMLA abuse. If they would fix the absentee policy they wouldn't be in the situation they are in trying to fill vacancies. 

As for absences, they fall off in any 90 period. So if i get one tomorrow it would fall off 90 days from tomorrow. You aren't allowed to go over 3 in 90 days. If you do then you are written up then the absence doesn't fall off for 24 months. If you get 9 you are fired. The last "slip" they gave me was given to me on day 95.... Five days AFTER the absence fell off! I have been working since I was 16 years old and have only missed THREE DAYS of work EVER since 1987. Now any little call home for 20 minutes shows up as not being at work. I can even make up the time I lost and work 20 minutes over yet still get hit with an absence. 

Other than that it's a decent place to work and we make good money and get annual raises. I just remember to bring my lunch... We have a gym at work and i use it 2-3 days a week, sometimes as much as 5 days a week. But promoting a healthy lifestyle while putting garbage in the vending machine is AZinine!

IMO, employers have no business suggesting what their people should eat. 

As for their absentee policy, how can they not see that they're shooting themselves in the foot?

A Big Az Cheeseburger has 870 calories, 23 g of saturated fat (115% of the suggested daily) and 495 calories is from fat.  Healthy indeed 

Samson wrote:

IMO, employers have no business suggesting what their people should eat. 

As for their absentee policy, how can they not see that they're shooting themselves in the foot?

Yeah they tell our union that "we need to look over this absentee policy the ones who implemented it made a lot of mistakes". The two managers who came up with it are no longer here and while they know it needs to be reviewed, they have not made any efforts to do so. I know the union has asked for "credits" that you can use in emergencies. Like if you go 6 months without missing you earn a credit. Also, if you are out of work sick and miss 4-5 days in one occurance, that only counts as one absence, not 4 or 5. We have had people fired over an alarm clock... The union is good about informing borderline employees. They tell some of the younger people that they are one flat tire away from being fired. The company has responded that "it's a no fail absentee policy. Either you'r here or you're not". 

And for the record, they don't tell us to what to eat they just say "if you eat healthy you can track it on line and get insurance discounts in addition to logging hours in the gym". So they promote, not dictate food choices yet they give us CRAP in the vending machines.

If the "healthy eating" incentive is a relatively new policy there may not be a serious contradiction.  I am willing to bet the vending machine (and it's content) is under contract with a separate vendor.  Could be that the company can't request/require vending machine content changes until the contract has expired.
However, if the vending machine is owned and stocked by the management...it is a completely bone-head move to keep products like that in there.