Up In Smoke - Employees That Smoke Cost $6,000 More Per Year

A recent NBC.com article indicated that employees that smoke cost employers $6,000 more a year. According to the Ohio State University study noted in the article, cost impacts such as health care costs, smoke breaks, sick days and "presenteeism" were all factored in. Additionally, the study factored in cost savings to the extent there would be a pension savings due to a shorter life span.

Accordingly, while most companies are smoke-free workplaces, more and more employers are moving towards a smoker free workplace.

Is it legal in Florida not to hire smokers?

In October 2012, The City of Delray Beach, Florida made news when it banned hiring smokers. Before that, many hospitals and health care companies announced that they would no longer hire smokers.

So, is the ban on hiring smokers a legal one? First, there is no Federal law that protects smokers or entitled them to equal protections in hiring. Second, state laws vary as to whether an employer can restrict off duty use of tobacco. But, here in the Sunshine State, there is no state law that provides protection for candidates applying at smoker free workplaces.

In fact, all the way back in 1995 the Florida Supreme Court upheld a City of North Miami policy requiring job applicants to swear they have not smoked cigarettes within the past year (see The City of North Miami v. Kurtz, 653 So. 2d 1025 (Fla. 1995).

In Kurtz, Arlene Kurtz applied for a...