New York Times, February 10th, 2011
More U.S. hospitals and medical groups are not only banning smoking but are also turning away job applicants who smoke in more aggressive attempts to reduce health care costs and encourage healthy living. Companies feel obligated to instate these policies due to the lack of success from other efforts including banning smoking on company grounds, offering cessation programs, and increasing health care premiums for smokers. Now, applications explicitly warn of "tobacco-free hiring", which has fueled quite a debate regarding the policy implications of an employee's private life as criteria for job hiring. On one side, hospital executives claim that smoking employees cost approximately $3,000 more each year, making employees who maintain healthy lifestyles essentially pay for these costs. On the other hand, worker unions and other organizations strongly oppose the policies, deeming them as crossing the line between personal habits and professional employment. These groups are concerned that this ban may be a gateway for future policies that dictate the private choices that employees make in order to keep their jobs.
This article outlines an issue that is a crucial public health concern. Smoking harms not only the health of smokers, but of those around them as well. Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) has been common in workplaces, increasing the risk of lung cancer and other respiratory diseases. In addition, smoking costs employers money. These costs include: decreased productivity, higher annual health care costs and insurance premiums, and more employee absenteeism. Overall, the health and economical costs of smoker employment require the attention and engagement of public health officials. However, "tobacco-free" hiring goes too far. With the economic issues that we are facing today, it is not appropriate to begin threatening the livelihood of citizens who are otherwise productive members of society. Their tax dollars go to support the health care of individuals with other medical issues which could stem from poor eating habits or lack of physical activity. Medical centers do not have a right to discriminate against qualified job-seekers due to unhealthy, personal habits.
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