Having a smoker free workplace.

Okay CC this was part of a class assignment and sparked a good debate between me and my husband so I decided to bring it to you too!

Should an employer be able to choose to not hire employees that are smokers?

There are a lot of workplaces in my area that are smoke free and employees have to use regular break time to walk to the property's edge to have a smoke. My current job has smokers pay higher health insurance premiums and doesn't allow smoking on our property. There are companies in the US that are smoker free.

I viewed it as a form of discrimination against smokers. Smoking tobacco is a legal behavior that can be limited to hours outside of work and should not be something a workplace should regulate. Some jobs limit drinking alcohol for a period before a shift or if you are on call when public/ personal safety is a concern. That is reasonable to me. Limiting legal behaviors that occur outside of the workplace seems like a very slippery slope to me. The leading arguments for smoker free workplaces are healthcare cost and productivity due to breaks or leave taken due to health reasons. Being pregnant means I currently cost my insurance more and have a higher sick/leave time taken than my "healthy" coworkers.

My husband gave an argument of personal grooming policies restrict facial hair, hair color, nail polish, ect. All legal, but not allowed by workplace policy. Although I have found my employers have been lenient on these policies. (I have never known anyone fired for consistently violating these policies)

I can see the benefits to employers and non-smoking workers, but do not think an employer should be allowed to not hire someone based on if they are a smoker.

Bonus: Should employers be able to give current employees the option to quit smoking or they are fired?