Company Fires All Employees Who Smoke

WRAL.com – News – Company Fires All Employees Who Smoke

Company Fires All Employees Who Smoke
Michigan Firm Won’t Allow Smoking, Even On Employee’s Own Time

UPDATED: 8:55 PM EST January 25, 2005

LANSING, Mich. — Four employees of a health care company have been fired for refusing to take a test to determine whether they smoke cigarettes.

Weyco Inc., a health benefits administrator based in Okemos, Mich., adopted a policy Jan. 1 that allows employees to be fired if they smoke, even if the smoking happens after business hours or at home.

Company founder Howard Weyers has said the anti-smoking rule was designed to shield the firm from high health care costs. “I don’t want to pay for the results of smoking,” he said.

The rule led one employee to quit before the policy was adopted. Four others were fired when they balked at the smoking test.

Chief Financial Officer Gary Climes estimated that 18 to 20 of the company’s 200 employers were smokers when the policy was announced in 2003. Of those, as many as 14 quit smoking before the policy went into effect. The company offered them help to kick the habit.

“That is absolutely a victory,” Climes said.

On the company’s Web site, it states:

Weyco Inc. is a non-smoking company that strongly supports its employees in living healthy lifestyles.

Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

As if I haven’t posted enough examples of people’s lives being intruded upon by nanny, here’s yet another example.

Now, do you think this company fires people for:

1. Not exercising.
2. Eating too many calories.
3. Chowing down on fast food.
4. Chillin’ at a kegger on Saturday.

I seriously doubt it. You?

I have to tell you it makes my skin crawl to think that one day my company might fire me because of something I do off company time that doesn’t directly have an effect on my job performance.

I’m sorry, but if I want someone to be my mother, I’ll call my mother. If I want someone to protect me, I’ll call the police. In other words, butt out of my damn private life.

It’s getting downright scary out there folks.