Smoking in the Workplace: Yes or No

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The main theme of this article is if smoking in the workplace should be tolerated or prohibited by the employer. Furthermore, how human resources should design and implement a policy that either prohibits or tolerates employee smoking.
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Summarize what you think is the most important information in the article. You should include details and examples from the article. Also, identify any inferences or conclusions that this article makes.

The first main point in the article discusses the health issues associated with smoking to non-smokers and smokers. According to the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), smoking causes cancer and heart disease, and other illnesses among smokers. Furthermore, a non-smoker is affected by smoking with the same conditions. Secondhand smoke enhances asthma, bronchitis, or allergic disorders among individuals.
The next important point the article focuses on how smoking in the workplace leads to increased damages to properties and added expenditures to business owners. Each year approximately $72 million expenses are connected to smoking and businesses can be damaged or burnt down by the use of cigarettes/cigars. Furthermore, if an employee smokes, health premiums will be higher and smokers are more likely to become sick. This leads to smokers to miss an increased amount of days of work, costing the company more money and loss of production/productivity. All these issues are leading many companies to establish policies that limit or prohibit smoking in the workplace.
The employment issues, is the next significant point in the article. Some employers have stated they will not hire smokers. Many wonder if this actually legal or is it a form of discriminatio...

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...e become unreceptive. I worked with several colleagues that smoked and some abused their privileges by taking too many breaks. The employer took the correct actions by either reprimanding or firing the smokers because smoking was affecting their work performance.

Employers have the responsibility to safeguard employees and clients. Smoking is an unhealthy habit and can affect individuals that do not smoke. In order to create a policy on smoking that protects the welfare of all individuals within and out of the organization can be tricky. Depending on the organizations, employers should have the right to prohibit or designate smoking. If smoking is affecting job performance, employees should be reprimanded for their low productivity, not smoking. However, when smoking imposes health issues on non-smokers, employers have the right to abolish smoking at the workplace

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