No Smoking Employees Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

No Smoking Employees - Essay Example Furthermore, a smoking employee’s health plan and insurance premiums are higher compared to non-smokers. This means higher health care and medical costs for the employers. Moreover, employers are also concerned about the risk of second hand smoke on their non-smoking employees. This could also result in higher medical costs for them, so they would not like to expose their other employees to the health hazards of second hand smoke. Employers perceive hiring smokers as going against their clean indoor air policy. In most areas, refusal to hire smokers does not constitute unlawful discrimination. Federal law prohibits employers from discriminating against any individual in hiring because of that individual’s race, color, religion, sex, national origin, citizenship status, age, and disability. In addition, state law also prohibits discrimination in hiring based on height, weight, and marital status. This means that employers can discriminate against smokers because they do not belong to the â€Å"protected group†. Other employers do not hire smokers because they believe that employment requires a high level of physical fitness which means that good health is an essential asset for any job (ASH, par.12).