In the last few years, there’s been a rising trend for public companys â.” not just private organizations â.” to ban tobacco use. Here is what your colleagues are doing.
What’s New in Benefits and Compensation recently surveyed 374 of our readers from both the private and public sectors to determine their organization’s policy on permitting staff members to smoke on-site and hiring smokers in the first place. Here is what we found -
o 11% have developed a policy of hiring only non-smokers
o 17% allow personnel to smoke offsite, but ban it on all organization property
o 39% restrict use of tobacco to designated areas outside the building
o 30% allow smoking anywhere outside the building, and
o 3 percent allow smoking in break rooms or other indoor areas.
Public employers get aggressive
While much of the publicity about no-hire policies for smokers centers on private corporations, it’s actually public companys in certain states who have been the most aggressive of late.
For example, Florida is one of the states at the forefront of the movement. Sarasota County lately became the third Florida county to take a no-hire stance for control health care costs.
New hires must take a drug test that detects nicotine and sign a pledge certifying that they haven’t smoked in the past 12 months.
The ban won’t affect current staff, but the county has undertaken use of tobacco cessation programs aimed at employees’ wallets.
Non-smokers pay less for coverage through various incentives and the county covers the cost of participating in smoking cessation programs.
The reason why Florida public corporations can take these steps – the state supreme Supreme Court has ruled that refusing to hire smokers doesn’t break discrimination laws.
But your state laws may vary, so proceed with caution before considering similar policies.
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