Is it legitimate to advertise a job "Non smokers only"?

[SnailyBoy 10]

Well I can take it or leave it! And if the incentive was to get a job I bet many others could. I'm sure there must be loads of people who can't/don't smoke at work.

 

Wish that was the same for some of the people I work with. 10mins out of every hour outside.

 

Soon adds up

[foxy lady 10]

This is The World Health Organisations policy on recruitment. They employ 8000 health professionals and 10s of thousands of other staff in 147 countries worldwide including the UK.

 

 

WHO POLICY ON NON-RECRUITMENT OF SMOKERS

OR OTHER TOBACCO USERS:

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1. Who is a "smoker"?

According to WHO's Smoking and Tobacco Use Policy, a smoker is someone who smokes

any tobacco product, either daily or occasionally.

A daily smoker is someone who smokes any tobacco product at least once a day.

An occasional smoker is someone who smokes, but not every day.

A "tobacco user" is someone who uses any tobacco product.

2. What does the term "tobacco use" mean?

Tobacco use includes smoking, sucking, chewing or snuffing any tobacco product.

3. What is a "tobacco product"?

"Tobacco products means products entirely or partly made of the leaf tobacco as raw material

which are manufactured to be used for smoking, sucking, chewing or snuffing". (WHO

Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, Article 1)

4. Why has WHO decided not to recruit smokers or other tobacco users?

Tobacco use is the major preventable cause of death in the world, killing nearly 5 million

people annually. On current trends, by 2020, around 10 million people a year will die from

tobacco-related diseases in developing countries alone, accounting for more deaths than from

malaria, maternal conditions and injuries combined. Tobacco use is addictive. There is no

safe way of using tobacco. No safe threshold levels have been established. This means that

substances in tobacco and tobacco smoke may cause harm even at low levels of exposure.

WHO is at the forefront of the global campaign to curb the tobacco epidemic. The

Organization has a responsibility to ensure that this is reflected in all its work, including in its

recruitment practices and in the image projected by the Organization and its staff members.

5. Does this mean WHO will stop recruiting people who do not have a healthy

lifestyle?

No, but WHO encourages its staff to maintain a healthy lifestyle. In the case of tobacco, the

importance for WHO not to be seen as "normalizing" tobacco use also warrants consideration

in the Organization's recruitment policy.

6. Has WHO banned smoking by staff members?

Smoking inside all WHO premises has been banned and many offices have also banned

smoking on outdoor premises. Designated outdoor areas where smoking is tolerated will

remain in place until further notice in those offices that have made such arrangements.

2

7. What is WHO doing to help serving staff to quit smoking?

WHO encourages staff who smoke or use tobacco to quit. Several measures are in place to

assist staff members to stop using tobacco. WHO's Health and Medical Services (HMS),

Geneva, provide support for cessation of tobacco use in the form of individual counselling,

prescriptions for pharmaceutical therapy (including nicotine replacement products) and

follow-up. In-house sessions for groups within WHO can be organized.

HMS also has an established cooperation with facilities offering specialized services,

including CIPRET (Centre d'Information pour la Prévention du Tabagisme) and the Hôpital

Cantonal.

Pharmaceutical therapy (including nicotine replacement products) bought on a treating

physician or on the Headquarters or Regional Office staff physician prescriptions are

reimbursed by the WHO Staff Health Insurance at 80%.

8. Does this policy of not recruiting smokers or other tobacco users apply to

serving staff ( both fixed-term and temporary)?

No. The policy states that smokers or other tobacco users will not be "recruited" by WHO.

Since serving staff have already been recruited and are already in WHO's employ, the policy

will not affect them. If a currently serving staff member were to leave WHO and later seek

to return to work for WHO, the policy would apply.

9. Will WHO take disciplinary action against serving staff members who

continue to smoke or use tobacco?

No, unless of course a staff member were to persist in smoking or using other tobacco

products on WHO premises.

10. How will WHO determine whether a person who applies to work for WHO

is a smoker or tobacco user?

The following questions will be included in the online application form:

• "Do you smoke or use tobacco products?"

• "If you currently smoke or use tobacco products, would you continue to do so if

employed by WHO?"

If the answer to both questions is "yes", the applicant will not be considered for selection.

11. If an applicant says they do not use tobacco on the application form, but in fact

they do - what action will WHO take?

The same action as would be taken when any false information is provided on an application:

the person would not be hired or, if recruited, disciplinary action would be taken against the

staff member.September 2008.

Edited August 2, 2010 by foxy lady

[js2012 10]

A simple question. Is it legitimate to advertise a job "Non smokers only"?

 

Its disgrimination plain and simple. The employer should be hauld before the courts and fined heavily.

[shanes teeth 10]

Wish that was the same for some of the people I work with. 10mins out of every hour outside.

 

Soon adds up

 

And I'm surprised that any employer allows that.

[SnailyBoy 10]

Its disgrimination plain and simple. The employer should be hauld before the courts and fined heavily.

 

No it isn't

[Darth Vader 10]

Its disgrimination plain and simple. The employer should be hauld before the courts and fined heavily.

 

Yes it is.

 

If I were a smoker, maybe I'd try suing the government, or the tobacco industry, as it states it on the packet it can harm your health, but it doesn't say it can also harm your chances of finding employment.

[Arthur Bell 10]

There are two issues here. In Ontario, all smoking while working is prohibited but companies are allowed to provide a designated smoking areas for smokers. These are outside and cannot share the same ventilation system with the normal work area. It would be against the law here to discriminate and hire only non smokers.

Harleyman is right - just because a person works outdoors doesn't mean that smoking would always be safe.

[foxy lady 10]

Yes it is.

 

If I were a smoker, maybe I'd try suing the government, or the tobacco industry, as it states it on the packet it can harm your health, but it doesn't say it can also harm your chances of finding employment.

 

 

 

Try the EU...

 

Quote...

 

he European Commission said the EU's wide-ranging anti-discrimination laws did not apply to tobacco users. It was responding to concerns raised about a job advertisement placed by an Irish e-commerce firm which warned "smokers need not apply".

 

Vladimir Spidla, the commissioner for employment, social affairs and equal opportunities, said the advert did not contravene EU legislation.

 

In a written answer, quoted by the Financial Times, he said: "EU anti-discrimination law prohibits discrimination on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin, disability, age, sexual orientation and religion and belief in employment and other fields.

 

"A job advertisement saying that 'smokers need not apply' would not seem to fall under any of the above mentioned prohibited grounds."

[na2009 10]

Maybe it is fair. Smokers go out for fag breaks all the time at work and so work at least one hour less that their non smoking workmates. Plus, they are smelly.

 

This is a very unfair judgement!! Where i work everyone has the same set breaks whether they smoke or not, so its fair for everyone. And if you have the basic sense of hygiene like everybody else on the planet smokers do not smell!!!

Obviously u can smell on their breath when they have just had a cigerette just like you can smell certain foods people have eaten, usually a chewing gum or tic tac sorts that problem.

[emma royd 10]

smokers do not smell!!!

Obviously u can smell on their breath .

 

So you mean that they do smell then.

[na2009 10]

So you mean that they do smell then.

 

no i was refering to the post id copyied in, how it was worded made out to me that smokers have poor hygiene. i was simply pointing out that its no more then any one else i.e none smokers who for example have just eaten tuna or garlic i.e smelly breath. althought now ive re-read my post i can now see how i made it sound like you have pointed out for me lol

Edited August 2, 2010 by na2009
wrote wrong word

[Darth Vader 10]

Try the EU...

 

Quote...

 

he European Commission said the EU's wide-ranging anti-discrimination laws did not apply to tobacco users. It was responding to concerns raised about a job advertisement placed by an Irish e-commerce firm which warned "smokers need not apply".

 

Vladimir Spidla, the commissioner for employment, social affairs and equal opportunities, said the advert did not contravene EU legislation.

 

In a written answer, quoted by the Financial Times, he said: "EU anti-discrimination law prohibits discrimination on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin, disability, age, sexual orientation and religion and belief in employment and other fields.

"A job advertisement saying that 'smokers need not apply' would not seem to fall under any of the above mentioned prohibited grounds."

 

Yes, I gathered what the EU stance was from earlier on in the thread. So, it would be foolish for anyone to go the EU, wouldn't it?

 

So, according the quote above, if I wanted to employ only people with brown eyes, that would be ok?

 

Whatever way you look at it, barring a section of society on whatever grounds, is discrimination, unless it can be proven that there is a valid reason, ie convicted child sex offenders working in schools, etc.