Employee Selection Targeting Smokers
If you’re a smoker, you might have a tough time getting though some companies’ employee selection process.
Many companies are basing hiring decisions on whether or not a potential candidate smokes. While not hiring someone because they are a smoker can be considered discrimination, there are only 26 states with laws that prohibit hiring practices discriminating against smokers.
In an article by Tobacco Control, Michael Siegel, a social and behavioral sciences professor at Boston University, said many young people may soon find themselves unemployed if hiring policies continue to target smoking.
“Discrimination is essentially the categorical denial of employment to a group, based solely on the membership to that group that is not related to job qualifications,” Siegel said in the article. “Right now, Massachusetts has what’s called ‘at-will employment,’ and there’s not protection against this sort of discrimination. There’s only protection for race, gender, religion, sexual orientation.”
Some companies require employees to submit urine samples to test for smoking.
“One of the problems with nicotine testing is you don’t know if its coming from cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, or Nicorette,” Robert Swotinsky, Fallon Clinic occupational medicine chairperson, said in the article. “Someone could be trying to stop smoking by chewing the gum, and they’d have nicotine in their system.”
This measure has caused some employees to sue companies on the grounds of discrimination.
One Scotts Lawn Care employee is suing that company for discrimination. Weyco, a healthcare provider in Michigan, fires smokers if they don’t quit within a year. The American Lung Association has a policy against hiring smokers and doesn’t fire existing employees for smoking, but encourages employers to help employees quit.