2008-06-18 16:50:10 - Why companies should fire smokers, and employ only nonsmokers, will be the topic of Fox's Morning Show tomorrow [6/19] at 9 AM Eastern Time featuring "The Man Behind the Cigarette Commercial Ban," the "Ralph Nader of the Tobacco Industry," "Mr. Antismoking," and "The Law Professor Who Masterminded Litigation Against the Tobacco Industry," who will explain why it's both legal and profitable to do so.

Public Interest Law Professor John Banzhaf, Executive Director of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), also plans to discuss a new medical study which shows that the breath of smokers creates unhealthy levels of indoor air pollution, even if they do all their smoking outdoors.

As the San Francisco Chronicle just reported, employers -- finding that the "carrot" of free smoking

cessation program, financial incentives, and even workplace smoking bans are not enough -- are increasingly using tough tactics to deal with the escalation of medical care costs, and especially the largest preventable component which is caused by smoking.

In addition to giving preference in hiring to nonsmokers, a growing number of companies are requiring smokers to pay more for health insurance, eliminating smoking breaks, banning smoking even in company parking lot, firing smokers, and even testing both employees and their spouses for nicotine.
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/16/BUKG11A2VO. ..

An ever growing number of companies -- and even the World Health Organization -- are refusing to hire smokers, a move which court testimony indicates can save them about $12,000 a year for every smoking employee.

Since employers cannot simply absorb these enormous costs, every smoking employee wastes about $3,000 for every nonsmoking employee which could otherwise be used for more comprehensive health care benefits, child care, or simply raises.

As Prof. Banzhaf explains, court after court have held that their is no right to smoke, and that both private companies and governmental bodies can fire employees who smoke, even if their smoking is always done off the job and on their own time.

"Smoking, whether on or off the job, causes the same ballooning of health care costs, disability payments, days of sick leave, and other costs to the employer," notes Banzhaf.

"Nobody has the right to any particular job. Under our free enterprise system, employers -- rather than bureaucrats -- determine the conditions of employment, and employees who want a job must accept the conditions.

The only major exception is that basing decisions on factors like race, national origin, gender, disability, etc. are prohibited since these are fixed conditions and don't adversely affect the employer.

Smoking is an activity rather than an immutable condition, and each smoking worker seriously affects the employer's bottom line."

Banzhaf notes that many employers routinely fire employees for conduct which occurs off the job.

Reporters usually cannot take part in lawful public demonstrations (even though this involves their "free speech"); investment advisors cannot take vacations paid for by companies they report on; professors cannot teach at other universities in their free time; many employees cannot use "recreational drugs"; pilots cannot drink before flying airplanes; and celebrities cannot engage in "immoral" activities.

In each case, employees engaging in these off-the-job activities can be fired because their actions have on-the-job consequences for the employer.

If so-called discrimination by employers based upon free-time activities of their employees were prohibited, animal rights groups could be forced to hire hunters, women's rights groups might have to hire men who patronize strip clubs, weight control centers would have to hire the morbidly obese, and antismoking and other health organizations might be forced to hire smokers.

This makes no sense, says Banzhaf, suggesting that employers are almost always in a better position to make wise decisions regarding qualifications for employment than government bureaucrats at agencies.

PROFESSOR JOHN F. BANZHAF III
Executive Director and Chief Counsel
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
2013 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006, USA
(202) 659-4310 // ash.org