(no subject)

[theweaselking]

Michigan health care firm fires all employees who smoke, regardless of when or where they do it.

The founder of Weyco Inc. said the company doesn't want to pay the higher health care costs associated with smoking.

An official of the company -- which administers health benefits -- estimated that 18 to 20 of its 200 employees were smokers when the policy was first announced in 2003. As many as 14 of them quit smoking before the policy went into effect.

Comments

[mrbankies.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... I don't know much about Michigan's laws regarding such things, but that sounds like a wrongful termination lawsuit just begging to be filed.

[missysedai.livejournal.com]

^^ What he said.

I think I'm going to ask my colleague about that. He's a practicing Michigan attorney.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

They may try to argue that it's similar to firing people for failing or refusing to take a drug test, which, as I understand it, is legal.

[larabeaton.livejournal.com]

Except that drug tests are for illegal substances, and they are therefore firing a person who commits a crime. Firing someone for doing something that is perfectly legal so you can save on health care costs is incredibly dodgy.

How is this different from firing people for being overweight? Or who do dangerous sports? Or who have a few drinks outside of work hours?

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

I didn't say it would work. I said that's what they might try.

[ryusen.livejournal.com]

ditto...

[zenten.livejournal.com]

*shrugs*

I don't see what the big deal, but it could be that I'm thinking in terms of Canadian law, where smoking isn't protected under the constitution.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Smoking isn't protected specifically, but there are rules about what they may or may not fire you for doing.

Legal activities in your personal life outside of work are *not* on the list, not even in Canada.

[zenten.livejournal.com]

Weird.

I guess convergys really is violating labour laws.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

In many ways.

What specifically were you thinking about?

[zenten.livejournal.com]

The part how if an employee does something to embarass the company, like say get drunk and dance on tables or something, and it gets out, they can be fired.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Acts detrimental to the company's image are something you can be fired for. Depending on how closely you are associated with the company, your performing those acts becomes negative publicity for the company. Causing negative publicity *is* something you can be fired for.

The thing is, smoking isn't that.

[zenten.livejournal.com]

How come?

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Home come smoking isn't negative publicity? Because it doesn't generate publicity, and nobody gets embarassed because of that. Compare that to, say, the HIV Awareness Counsellor who Dan Savage outed as a bug chaser.

Or how come they're allowed to fire you for making them look bad? Usually, because it's in your contract. Legally, because they require just cause to fire you, and bringing disrepute upon the organistaion is legally defined under just cause.

The answers to these questions REALLY strike me as being self-explanatory

[zenten.livejournal.com]

You're costing the company money through their health plan.

Although I suppose they could have just said that you can only be on the health plan if you are a non-smoker, but you have to pay for it regardless.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

If costing a company money through its health pan was an actionable offense, you would be fired instead of them paying your benefits when you were injured on the job.

Costing the company money through its health plan is NOT something that can get you fired. They don't have to offer you a health plan, but these employees were hired and given a health plan BEFORE the company policy changed.

[ryusen.livejournal.com]

Especially considering that i bet most of these people were hired as smokers...

[pope-guilty.livejournal.com]

I can't concieve of how such a thing can even remotely be legal.