Smokers need not apply...

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http://www.mlive.com/business/index....y_2_detro.html

Beaumont and Henry Ford Health systems today announced they will screen job applicants for nicotine and will not hire smokers or anyone who uses tobacco products.

The two health systems are major players in the metro Detroit area, together employing more than 42,000 people spanning nine hospitals, several medical facilities and other lines of business.

Detroit-based Henry Ford and Royal Oak-based Beaumont have had tobacco-free campuses since 2007.

Starting Jan. 1, 2013, the systems will not hire anyone who fails a nicotine screening. Applicants can reapply after six months, said Jay Holden, Beaumont’s vice president of human resources.

"We just felt this was the next step to take in terms of being a role model for health and wellness in our community," Holden said.

The hiring policies don’t apply to current employees, but now they are no longer allowed to use tobacco or smell of smoke during the workday. Employees who violate the policies can be disciplined or lose their job. Tobacco products include but are not limited to cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, snuff, chewing tobacco and e-cigarettes.

The employers offer free smoking cessation programs to employees and their spouses or families, along with discounts on insurance and out-of-pocket health expenses to employees who don’t smoke or use tobacco.

Henry Ford CEO Nancy Schlichting said in a statement that the “health and well-being of our patients, employees and visitors is our top priority."

Nicotine-free hiring policies are a growing trend among hospitals a select other employers in an effort to cut down on employee health care costs while promoting a healthy lifestyle.

Detroit Medical Center announced its tobacco-free hiring policy in June. Sparrow Health System in Lansing, Oakwood Healthcare System in Dearborn, Crittenton Hospital in Rochester and Botsford Hospital in Farmington Hills also have similar policies.

Michigan is among 21 states that allow hiring policies that prohibit smokers and tobacco users. Twenty-nine states have laws that classify smokers as a protected class.

Opponents label the hiring policies as discrimination, saying that tobacco use doesn’t have direct implications on their job qualifications and that employers shouldn’t control what workers do on their own time.

I used to work for one of these health systems. Yes, those are my comments in at the bottom of the article linked above.

The concept is a fine line. Companies have the right to choose their own hiring guidlines outside race, sex, age for the most part. However, tobacco is a legal product. What's next on the list, alcohol, fast food, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity? Will they fire people bringing back Burger King for lunch or those with a salt shaker at their desk?