Smokers: you can still get a job with Pima County!
The Board of Supervisors voted against a proposal that would have banned the hiring of smokers as an attempt to save money on health care costs. However, the supervisors did agree to charge an insurance premium surcharge (30 percent, but if you take a smoking cessation course you wouldn’t have to pay anything) to employees who smoke or use a tobacco product.
The county, which is self-insured, estimates 32 percent of its more than 2,000 workers are tobacco users and that banning smoking would save more than $1 million in health care costs, according to The Associated Press.
You should still try quitting though, because it’s not good for you and you can’t smoke indoors anymore—which means you have to walk outside in the middle of a conversation to light one up, and that can get annoying.
This article appears in Feb 12-18, 2015.
Why not drop health insurance benefits and dump the costs directly on the taxpayer?
This was the stupidest proposal. Chuck’s losing it and should be fired.
What’s next? No meat eaters? No drinkers? No people with dangerous hobbies? Yes big brother.
I quit smoking years ago and advise everyone to, but you can’t discriminate against an otherwise fairless harmless and very common habit by denying employment.
yes they can bslap, smoking is not a protected class. it is a health hazard to both the smoker and those around them. it affects productivity due to smoke breaks. i guess they can eliminate the breaks or insist smokers have to clock out to grab a butt. salaried employees have to enusre they’re meeting their 8 hour requirement. and finally, their insurance rates should go up by a factor of 4. discrimante them into the ground.