Smoking has always been a habit that is frowned upon in society. There are health risks associated with cigarette smoke like cancer, and even second hand smoke can cause irreversible damage. Until recently, smoking was something that employers would tolerate, but now a growing number of hospitals are turning down applicants who are smokers. While some people believe that this is a necessary step, others believe that it is a form of employment discrimination.
Hospitals that are doing this are following the lead of the Cleveland Clinic, and the most recent one is Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania. They believe that taking the step of barring smokers from employment reduces health care costs and absenteeism, and sets a healthy example for others. Marcy Marshall, the organizations director stated, “We have a responsibility, being a health care organization, to encourage people to take good care of themselves. Certainly using any nicotine products is harmful to your body — it’s been scientifically proven.”
While some people might believe that this would be a form of employment discrimination, non-nicotine hiring laws are legal in twenty-nine states already. Marshall also alluding to the fact that users of nicotine are not a legally protected class and that the hospital is well within their rights.
Geisinger has been tobacco-free since 2007, and is taking the next logical step. The hospital made it clear that those who are already employed will not lose their jobs if they smoke already. Yet when the policy officially starts, the hospital will require any new applicants to take a nicotine screen, which tests for products like cigarettes, snuff, nicotine patches, and cigars. If they fail the test, they are encouraged to apply again for the job in six months.
Despite many hospitals following the Cleveland Clinic, smoke experts do not believe that barring them from employment will motivate them to quit smoking. The Vice President of national policy and advocate at the American Lung Association said, “Tobacco use is a very powerful addiction. We don’t support making smokers a protected class, but we also have great concerns about these punitive approaches. There’s not a lot of data that shows this is an effective mechanism.”
Other experts argue that not hiring someone because they have a higher health risk wonders when it will stop. Dr. Michael Sigel a professor of community health sciences at Boston University School of Public Health, argues, “Why not not hire anyone over 50, or fat people, or people with diabetes?” Sigel is arguing that it is a slippery slope, and that if companies continue to do this, they may as well start not hiring other groups of people as well.
In the future, it may be more difficult for smokers to be employed, especially in the health care industry. If a person is thinking about going into that field, they may want to think twice about picking up smoking as a habit.
