If you’re looking for a job, consider this. More employers are screening their employees’ health and they’re especially interested if potential hires are smokers. This has led to concerns about protecting workers’ rights to privacy.
If you want a job in healthcare and you’re a smoker, you might want to think again. "Smokers need not apply" is a policy that many employers are adopting across the United States.
Smoke-free laws are spreading rapidly across the US. Thirty states and Washington DC don’t allow smoking in restaurants and bars, and these days more hospitals are demanding the same from their employees as they aim to cut down on health costs of potentially ’high-risk’ employees.
The Center for Disease Control says worldwide, cigarette smoking causes more than 5 million deaths annually and is responsible for 1 in 5 deaths a year in the U.S. The CDC says the economic costs total more than $193 billion- split almost equally between medical bills and lost productivity. (CDC: $96 billion in health care costs and $97 billion in lost productivity). Earlier this year, CEO Joel Allison of Baylor Health Care in Dallas, Texas challenged employees to quit smoking.
He said, "It’s time for us to be role models for health and wellness. It’s time for each us to take care of ourselves so we can lead by example and take care of others. It’s time to really practice prevention. Get active, get well, and quit using tobacco."
And that’s not all. "Starting January 2012, Baylor will no longer hire nicotine users." said Joel Allison.
Jessica Roberts from University Of Houston said, "Healthcare facilities see these employees as high-risk labor and with health care reform on its way, companies are trying to save money by avoiding workers with bad habits. But yes, we’ll see more legislation to protect workers’ rights in places like Texas where there are none."
The American Civil Liberties Union opposes tobacco-free hiring policies-calling it a form of discrimination. Experts like Roberts say while more legislation to protect smokers’ rights could appear, more no-smoking hiring policies are here to stay.