Ohio BANS hiring of smokers and vapers for city jobs to create healthier workplaces and cut down on healthcare bills and the ‘loss of productivity’ from smoke breaks
- The city of Dayton, Ohio will no longer hire employees who smoke cigarettes or vape, effective starting July 15
- The rule is designed to create a healthier workplace, cut back on healthcare costs and address the ‘loss of productivity’ of smoke breaks
- Under the new rule employees must be nicotine and tobacco free on and off the job, for as long as they’re employed by the city
- City will rolll out pre-employment screening tests for nicotine and tobacco
- Rule won’t apply to employees already working for the city’s office
- ‘Studies indicate that employees that smoke cost approximately an additional $6,000 per year in direct medical costs and lost productivity,’ official says
- 30 states and the District of Columbia have made it illegal to make an employment decision based on off-the-job smoking
The city of Dayton, Ohio will no longer hire employees who use nicotine or tobacco in a bid to create a healthier workplace, cut back on medical costs, and double down on the ‘loss of productivity’.
The city will enforce the new rule with employees hired after July 15 and it won’t apply to employees already working for the city’s office.
The city will employ a nicotine and tobacco pre-employment screening process. After being hired, the city will test employees if the office is tipped off about their tobacco use.
‘Studies indicate that employees that smoke cost approximately an additional $6,000 per year in direct medical costs and lost productivity,’ Kenneth Couch, Dayton’s director of human resources, said.
The city of Dayton, Ohio will no longer hire employees who smoke cigarettes or vape, effective starting July 15, in a bid to create a healthier workplace and cut down on medical costs
Under the new rule employees will be banned from using nicotine or tobacco products at work or in their time off. The new plan will also eliminate designated smoking areas around the city property.
However, not everyone is on board.
Leaders of labor unions fear that the new city policy could be a ‘slippery slope’ that could further scrutinize the personal habits of employees and their private lives that have little correlation with their job performance.
‘We are not thrilled about it,’ Rick Oakley, president of the Dayton Fraternal Order of Police Lodge, said to the Dayton Daily News. ‘But we also understand where the city is coming from because the biggest part of their health care costs are from nicotine-related illnesses.’
A survey of police and fire recruits when the policy was proposed showed that both departments would lose about a quarter of their classes if the rule was enforced.
Employees who smoke cost employers an additional $170billion in direct medical care and an additional $156billion in lost productivity, according to Couch.
According to the Daily News, 30 states and the District of Columbia have made it illegal to make an employment decision based on off-the-job smoking.
California and Connecticut prohibit discrimination based on habits and activities that are legal.