- #1
Yanick
- 399
- 22
I wasn't really sure where to post this but GD is as good a place as any.
I've recently come upon nicotine free hiring policies on a personal level. My wife and I are moving to a state which does not afford smoker's protection, and she is looking for work in the health care field. I may have heard about these policies before but didn't pay much attention. A few of the hospitals/institutions we looked at have this policy. They screen for drugs and nicotine and rescind employment offers if nicotine is found. Then you can't reapply for some amount of time. The policies vary of course, some just have you sign some paperwork and work mostly by the honor system. Some want to know about the employee and spouse etc.
I'm kind of on the fence about this whole thing. While I agree from a public health perspective, I have lost faith in humanity nearly completely. No matter how great a policy or system may sound on paper, I have no doubt that humans will go and screw it up completely for personal gain, greed and other, not very noble, reasons.
The main arguments for the policies, from what I found so far, are:
1) Smokers cost more money in lost productivity (breaks), work absence (sick days), and health care costs (insurance and such). Obviously these factors are not independent of each other. The figures I've seen are in the neighborhood of ~1000-4000 USD per year. (See non-peer reviewed [don't ban me Evo, please?!] ref's below)
2) For employers in the health care field, the argument follows something like, lead by example.
I don't doubt that some people who are championing these policies have noble intentions. Smoking is a horrible habit and we really need to work to abolish the practice for good, it is not necessary and has pretty much zero positive effects with a multitude of negative effects.
On the other hand, and tying into my comment above about humans ruining even the most well intentioned ideologies, this makes me really concerned about the power that may be wielded by employers in the future if this is allowed to proceed. This is especially true given the rationale of health promotion etc. Call me pessimistic but I foresee other lifestyle choices being targeted. Drinking on the weekends? Well that's high risk, you may come down with some liver problems or get beat up in a drunken melee. Do you eat McDonald's for lunch multiple times per week? Uh oh, sorry pal we can't keep you on the job with such risky behavior. Body mass index not in the appropriate range? Sorry, no work for you. Basically the good ol' slippery slope argument.
I haven't dug very deeply into this issue at all, just a quick google search for news articles and such. I'll have some more time in the next few days since I'll just be high on opiates and just completely miserable after my 2nd round of oral surgery.
I don't know what stance to take. I agree with the spirit and such but don't have much faith in the reality and consequences of such policies. Any other opinions?
Some of the news, blogs etc stuff I've read:
http://www.hrmorning.com/ban-hiring-smokers/
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/story/2012-01-03/health-care-jobs-no-smoking/52394782/1
http://www.forces.org/Archive/articles/371-Workplace+Nicotine+Testing.html (NB: I can't make heads or tails of what this FORCES organization is actually all about, it may be heavily biased so reader beware).
Here is an example of the policy from a health care employer. It is somewhat reasonable IMO but short sighted.
http://www.pennmedicine.org/careers/working-at-penn-medicine/tobacco-free.html
I've recently come upon nicotine free hiring policies on a personal level. My wife and I are moving to a state which does not afford smoker's protection, and she is looking for work in the health care field. I may have heard about these policies before but didn't pay much attention. A few of the hospitals/institutions we looked at have this policy. They screen for drugs and nicotine and rescind employment offers if nicotine is found. Then you can't reapply for some amount of time. The policies vary of course, some just have you sign some paperwork and work mostly by the honor system. Some want to know about the employee and spouse etc.
I'm kind of on the fence about this whole thing. While I agree from a public health perspective, I have lost faith in humanity nearly completely. No matter how great a policy or system may sound on paper, I have no doubt that humans will go and screw it up completely for personal gain, greed and other, not very noble, reasons.
The main arguments for the policies, from what I found so far, are:
1) Smokers cost more money in lost productivity (breaks), work absence (sick days), and health care costs (insurance and such). Obviously these factors are not independent of each other. The figures I've seen are in the neighborhood of ~1000-4000 USD per year. (See non-peer reviewed [don't ban me Evo, please?!] ref's below)
2) For employers in the health care field, the argument follows something like, lead by example.
I don't doubt that some people who are championing these policies have noble intentions. Smoking is a horrible habit and we really need to work to abolish the practice for good, it is not necessary and has pretty much zero positive effects with a multitude of negative effects.
On the other hand, and tying into my comment above about humans ruining even the most well intentioned ideologies, this makes me really concerned about the power that may be wielded by employers in the future if this is allowed to proceed. This is especially true given the rationale of health promotion etc. Call me pessimistic but I foresee other lifestyle choices being targeted. Drinking on the weekends? Well that's high risk, you may come down with some liver problems or get beat up in a drunken melee. Do you eat McDonald's for lunch multiple times per week? Uh oh, sorry pal we can't keep you on the job with such risky behavior. Body mass index not in the appropriate range? Sorry, no work for you. Basically the good ol' slippery slope argument.
I haven't dug very deeply into this issue at all, just a quick google search for news articles and such. I'll have some more time in the next few days since I'll just be high on opiates and just completely miserable after my 2nd round of oral surgery.
I don't know what stance to take. I agree with the spirit and such but don't have much faith in the reality and consequences of such policies. Any other opinions?
Some of the news, blogs etc stuff I've read:
http://www.hrmorning.com/ban-hiring-smokers/
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/story/2012-01-03/health-care-jobs-no-smoking/52394782/1
http://www.forces.org/Archive/articles/371-Workplace+Nicotine+Testing.html (NB: I can't make heads or tails of what this FORCES organization is actually all about, it may be heavily biased so reader beware).
Here is an example of the policy from a health care employer. It is somewhat reasonable IMO but short sighted.
http://www.pennmedicine.org/careers/working-at-penn-medicine/tobacco-free.html