posted 2007/03/28 at 22:58
I'm still applying for jobs here, hoping I can find a position soon. Yesterday I did an online job application, and it's kind of given me cause for some real deep thinking here.
During the application process, I was informed that the company I was applying to work at does not hire smokers. I don't mean that workers can't smoke in their offices or that they have to leave company property to smoke, I mean that workers aren't even allowed to smoke on their own time, at their own homes. The company literally tests its workers for nicotine, and if a worker tests positive, he or she can be fired on the spot. (A company in Michigan was actually the first to start this practice a couple of years ago.)
Now, I don't smoke, and one of the things I won't miss when I finally leave this house is having to share it with three smokers. That being said, it kind of doesn't sit right with me that this company is making these kinds of demands on what its workers can and can't do on their own time, in their own homes, particularly when said activity, for better or worse, is legal. I usually don't like using slippery slope arguments, but if a company can dictate whether or not its workers can smoke in their own homes, what's to stop them from dictating where they shop, or who they can associate with? I did a bit of research, and apparently only twenty-four states have laws in place that prevent companies from dictating what their employees can do on their own time. Neither Ohio nor Michigan are among those twenty-four states.
I certainly don't question how bad smoking is, and how unpleasant it is to be around smokers. (Believe me, I know.) I am fully aware of how much of our health care costs are tied to smoking-related diseases, but if a company's worried about its health care costs, they can simply choose not to offer health insurance to its employees who smoke. I think that companies should give their employees a covered place outdoors to smoke, but I think a company would be within its right to demand that its employees leave company property to smoke. Demanding that employees never smoke anywhere, anytime, though, feels to me like an intrusion on people's civil liberties.
Given how desperate I am for a job at this point, I'm deferring my decision on whether or not this is a make-or-break issue for me until I get to the interview process (which will be at least a month). Still, right now I'm really not sure I'd be comfortable working for a company that legislates what I can and can't do on my own time. This may be one of those rare instances where my Libertarian side is beating out my Green side.
All companies legislate what you can and can't do on your own time. They just differ on the extent and level of enforcement.
I really, really wouldn't be so picky about your first job. Just get in, do a really good job, build an impressive resume that proves you do a really good job, then let your moral compass be your guide.
One more comment:
"Demanding that employees never smoke anywhere, anytime, though, feels to me like an intrusion on people's civil liberties."
How is this an intrusion on civil liberties, when you can freely choose whether or not you wish to work for such a company?
Indeed - a private company has to have the right to select its employees based on any criteria it wants to.
The only entity that can - and does - curb civil liberties is the government.
And a company cannot legally offer health insurance to some employees and not others.
Hmm, they have SCIENCE to back them: http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20070329/sc_livescience/smokersaredeadweightattheoffice
copyright © 2008 Sean Shannon