Smokers Banned from Work at an Increasing Number of Hospitals
Hospitals in at least eight states have stopped hiring smokers in the past year, raising concerns about the intrusion into workers’ private lives.
Some hospitals and medical businesses require job applicants to take urine tests for nicotine, the New York Times reports. Some fire workers who are caught cheating. The story cites one instance at the Truman Medical Centers in Kansas City. An employee lost his job after returning from lunch smelling of smoke and admitting he had violated the policy.
Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia have laws that bar discrimination against smokers or those who use lawful products, the story says. Some of the states, however, exempt health care organizations.
The Cleveland Clinic stopped hiring smokers in 2007. A director at the hospital, Paul Terpeluk, told the Times that it has had several inquiries in the past year from others interested in taking a similar tack. “The trend line is getting pretty steep, and I’d guess that in the next few years you’d see a lot of major hospitals go this way,” he said.
