Quit smoking or lose your job?
Quit Smoking or Quit Your Job, U.S. Company Says: CHICAGO (Reuters) - The owner of a Michigan company who forced his employees to either quit smoking or quit their jobs said on Wednesday he also wants to tell fat workers to lose weight or else.
A ban on tobacco use -- whether at home or at the workplace -- led four employees to quit their jobs last week at Okemos, Michigan-based Weyco Inc., which handles insurance claims.
The workers refused to take a mandatory urine test demanded of Weyco's 200 employees by founder and sole owner Howard Weyers, a demand that he said was perfectly legal.
'If you don't want to take the test, you can leave,' Weyers told Reuters. 'I'm not controlling their lives; they have a choice whether they want to work here.'
Next on the firing line: overweight workers.
'We have to work on eating habits and getting people to exercise. But if you're obese, you're (legally) protected,' Weyers said.
KVCC hiring rule: Smokers need not apply: If you smoke and want a full-time job at Kalamazoo Valley Community College, you can forget it.
A new hiring policy that took effect on Jan. 1 tells job seekers that tobacco users will not be considered for full-time employment at KVCC.
Part-timers looking to move up a rung to a full-time position can't if they smoke or use other tobacco products.
Officials say the new policy is an effort to contain health-care costs, based on national research suggesting that tobacco use increases medical claims.
About three dozen employees, or 10 percent of the college's full-time staff, use tobacco, according to an employee survey.
The sanctions will not affect full-timers hired prior to the new regulation, however.
A ban on tobacco use -- whether at home or at the workplace -- led four employees to quit their jobs last week at Okemos, Michigan-based Weyco Inc., which handles insurance claims.
The workers refused to take a mandatory urine test demanded of Weyco's 200 employees by founder and sole owner Howard Weyers, a demand that he said was perfectly legal.
'If you don't want to take the test, you can leave,' Weyers told Reuters. 'I'm not controlling their lives; they have a choice whether they want to work here.'
Next on the firing line: overweight workers.
'We have to work on eating habits and getting people to exercise. But if you're obese, you're (legally) protected,' Weyers said.
KVCC hiring rule: Smokers need not apply: If you smoke and want a full-time job at Kalamazoo Valley Community College, you can forget it.
A new hiring policy that took effect on Jan. 1 tells job seekers that tobacco users will not be considered for full-time employment at KVCC.
Part-timers looking to move up a rung to a full-time position can't if they smoke or use other tobacco products.
Officials say the new policy is an effort to contain health-care costs, based on national research suggesting that tobacco use increases medical claims.
About three dozen employees, or 10 percent of the college's full-time staff, use tobacco, according to an employee survey.
The sanctions will not affect full-timers hired prior to the new regulation, however.
posted by Solomon | 4:54 PM
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