Quit Smoking or Lose Your Job!

Already hard hit by high taxes on cigarettes and limits on places to puff, smokers in Michigan now face moves by some employers to either refuse to hire them, or in one case, to fire those who won't quit.

By Marisa Schultz, Amy Lee and Eric Lacy / The Detroit News

Workers fume as firms ban smoking at home - Mich. firms prohibit cigarette use, even off the job, angering privacy advocates.

The decision by Okemos-based Weyco Inc. to terminate workers drew national attention Wednesday and immediately raised the issues of what other personal behaviors employers may seek to limit, even outside the workplace.

"The problem I have is that smokers already pay a lot of taxes, so we are already paying enough for this," said Julie McAllister, 44, of Northville. "A lot of people have quit and have gained weight because of that. So what's next, a policy that says you can't hire overweight people?"

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan has decided not to challenge the move by Weyco, a medical benefits administrator, because there is no state law prohibiting employers from controlling behavior outside the workplace, said ACLU spokeswoman Wendy Wagenheim.

"At least two dozen other states prevent lifestyle discrimination, and that's possible in Michigan as well if people are concerned about their privacy, as well they should be," she said.

"To think a company is trying to control off-site behavior when it doesn't affect their job will really bring people out in real numbers to address what's happening to privacy in this country."

Linda Goldberg, a lawyer with the Miller Canfield law firm in Ann Arbor, said state and federal civil rights laws prevent discrimination based on age, race, color, gender, marital status, national origin, weight, height and religion.

"An employer is free to hire on the basis of what it considers is desirable traits, skills, characteristics and so forth, provided they don't violate the law," Goldberg said.

The Triangle Foundation, a nonprofit group that works on behalf of gay, bisexual and transgendered individuals, has pushed for 10 years to add sexual orientation to the list of traits that cannot be used against individuals applying for employment.

"This simply draws a parallel to the very real reasons that people can lose their job (for issues) that have nothing to do with the merits of their work," said Jeff Montgomery, the group's executive director. "Now people who smoke are being subjected to the very risks that gay people have been subjected to forever."

Michigan, with 1.9 million smokers and one of the highest cigarette taxes in the nation, has no "smoker's rights law" found in 29 other states, so there isn't much that employees can do.

Weyco terminated four of its employees this month after they refused to submit to a smoking breath test in light of the company's new policy that bans tobacco use among its 200 employees during work and even when they are off the clock.

"We are saying people can smoke if they choose to smoke. That's their choice," said Gary Climes, Weyco's chief financial officer. "But they just can't work for us."

Kalamazoo Valley Community College also adopted a policy this month where the college refuses to hire full-time employees who use tobacco during school hours or on leisure time, such as in the privacy of their homes or cars -- two of the few places smokers still can light up.

The tough new anti-smoking policies are being praised by nonsmoking advocates, while smokers, many huddling outside their workplaces in the cold, grumbled that their rights continue to be trampled on and others questioned what group will be the next target.

"I understand drug testing, because drugs are illegal and can affect your work performance, but cigarettes?" said Marijo Bedford of Berkley, who is a clerk at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak. "It's not like I'm getting stoned off my cigarette. It doesn't impair my ability to do my job."

"If cigarettes were illegal, I could understand," added Bedford.

There is little debate on the negative health effects of smoking. Smokers are at a greater risk for heart attacks, strokes and lung disease.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that $75 billion is spent annually on medical expenses attributed to smoking. Businesses lose $82 billion in lost productivity from smokers. And smokers take about 6.5 more sick days a year than nonsmokers. About one in five Americans -- or 46 million people -- smoke.

More than 90 percent of employers have some type of smoking policy at the workplace, such as smoking in designated areas or smoking only outside, according to a survey of 283 southeast Michigan companies last May by the American Society of Employers.

About two years ago, Weyco decided it would no longer hire smokers and told current employees who smoked that they had 15 months to quit. The company offered cessation classes and paid for treatments such as hypnotism and acupuncture, said Climes.

In January 2004, Weyco banned smoking from its property; and began issuing breath tests to see if employees smoked. If they tested positive, they were charged $50 a month if they weren't enrolled in a cessation program.

This month, the company tested everyone again. Four people opted out of the test and were let go, Climes said.

The no-smoking policy is part of the company's overall goal for healthy lifestyles, as Weyco employs a full-time health expert to consult workers on diet and nutrition, he said.

Smoking bans are nothing new. Washtenaw, Ingham and Genesee counties and the city of Marquette have passed ordinances to ban smoking in the workplaces. A similar ordinance almost passed in Wayne County.

Kalamazoo Valley Community College, with its 12,800 students and 1,000 employees, might consider banning smoking outside on its campus in the future. In the meantime, leaders decided to ask employees whether they smoke on applications. Smokers looking for full-time work need not apply.

Full-time workers hired before the ban took place will not be fired. But part-time employees who smoke and seek full-time employment may be passed up for the job, said Sandy Bohnet, vice president for human resources at the college.

The idea behind the hiring change is based on health care costs, Bohnet said. The college wants to reduce its health care claims by 10 percent and it return it would reduce personal contributions to health care by the like amount.

Weyco Inc.'s move to shed smokers from its work force mirrors a national trend that began about 10 years ago, said John Banzhaf III, a professor and executive director of the nonprofit Action on Smoking and Health, a Washington D.C.-based anti-smoking group with 100,000 members nationwide.

Still, not all companies are ready to embrace the change.

Brandon Dent, spokesman for Yazaki North America, Inc., which has its U.S. headquarters in Canton Township, said the firm has no plans to change the smoking policy for its 1,500 employees, who can choose to smoke outside.

"One of our corporate values is innovations and you can't value that by whether or not a person is a smoker," Dent said.

You can reach Marisa Schultz at (734) 462-2203 or mschultz@detnews.com. You can reach Amy Lee at (248) 647-8605 or alee@detnews.com.

To read more on this subject, please visit: The Detroit News

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