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Escambia School Board Moves Closer To Tobacco-Free Hiring Policy
May 18, 2011
The Escambia County School Board moved closer Tuesday night to implementing a tobacco-free hiring policy.
During their regular meeting, the board voted unanimously to advertise intent to adopt the policy, which would not allow anyone to be hired that had used tobacco products within the last six months. Along with the standard drug test currently administered, new employees would also be tested for tobacco use. The newly hired employees would be required to remain tobacco free as a condition of employment.
The school board believes the new policy would not only mean healthier employees, but also lower costs associated with health insurance costs and lost days at work.
The policy defines tobacco as any product that includes tobacco intended or expected for human use or consumption, including lighted or unlighted cigarettes, cigars, pipes or any other smoking product, chewing tobacco or snuff. The policy applies to tobacco in any form, including lozenges, strips and pouches.
The board will vote on the adoption of the tobacco-free hiring policy at their regular June meeting.
Similar policies have been adopted by other large local employers, including Escambia County, ECUA, Sacred Heart Hospital and Baptist Health Care.
Comments
29 Responses to “Escambia School Board Moves Closer To Tobacco-Free Hiring Policy”
REGARDING:
“Smoking IS legal ! equal protection under the law…the US Constitution…I fought for it !…kurts….”
Nobody is being charged with breaking a nonexistent law. The idea, right or wrong, is that they WILL discriminate against smokers or tobacco users or however it is actually proposed. Nobody HAS to hire you or me for a particular job. If they decide to discriminate based on personal habits, they can do so. They won’t fire anyone they’ve already hired because of it, just not hire addicts.
I can imagine you asking, “How DARE you call ME an addict!”
Easy, you’d have to be addicted to still smoke despite the cost, harm you do your family members, health problems and alienation related to the practice. People start smoking to show how grown up they are then spend the rest of their lives wishing they’d been mature enough that they hadn’t.
David speaking truth
remembering dead addicts I loved
to bratt mom wow i am 70yrs old and smoked since i was 16 now you are telling me i could have lived to be 140yrs old if i bibnt smoke belive me i dont want to live another 70 yrs with all of the dolly do gooders telling everyone what is good for them
No sense arguing with a drug addicted person, folks. They won’t care who they hurt to satisfy their craving.
Just gotta wait for ‘em to die out and hope they don’t take us with ‘em. (grin)
Escambia School Board Moves Closer To Tobacco-Free Hiring Policy
Do I see, TOBACCO-Free or did I misread and see CIGARETTE Smoking-Free?
All I see are comments against people who smoke. Tobacco is not just a product used in cigarettes.
Teach your kids to do the right thing based on your houeshold opinions, they will make their on mind up when they sneak around and use tobacco behind your back or when they are old enough , age requirement wise, to make their own purchases.
If you want to smoke in the privacy of you home fine but you have no right to smoke around me and force me to breath it. I also don’t want to pay a higher insurance premium for you. If you choose to smoke pay it yourself. Where I work we do get a discount for not smoking on our insurance, it’s something like $5.00 a month. What a joke.
Also please don’t smoke around your kids. They have no choice to breath. And pregnant smokers, that is just plain selfish. Your cigarettes mean more to you than your un-born baby? I guess they do if you are pregnant and still smoking.
wow, really, hold your breath to not smell the smoke, u mean I can not breathe the air God gave me to live without smelling ciggarette smoke, I have to choke, cause my eyes to swell, get a migraine, and smell like smoke myself from being around it, just not fair and it only decreases your life expecantly by over 50% , I wished they would make them illegal period ! I am allergic to them and so is my son and its not right, if you want to smoke do it in your own home and not out where everyone else that is trying to live a healthy life has to smell it and be choked to death with it.
Very Cool!! Politically correct descrimination!
Now using the same health care excuse can we add to this obesity…fat kills and costs as much if not more….plus it makes me sick to sit in the same room with someone who smell like krispy-cremes and a soda pop!
Concerning Ex-Smoker and your comment @COPD:
First, Tobacco Users, is not just smokers. Tobacco Users means anyone using a tobacco product. Dip, Snuff, Cigarettes, Cigars, Pipes, etc. I related to smoking because that is what I was classified myself as because that was my main tobbaco use..
If you are not wanting to smell “smoke” when you walk into a public place, when you exit your ride to this public lace, hold your breath until you get inside!
****************************************************************************************
I say educate yourself on the effects of COPD because it’s not the smell that offends me, I could care less if you smell like an ashtray or a bed of roses. Hold my breath you say–if you knew anything about this disease you would know that it’s impossible to hold my breath for more than a few seconds simply because my lungs are damaged. But who knows as an ex smoker if the lung cancer don’t get you it might just be the COPD, then we can hold our breath together as some jerk blows smoke at us because his/her rights are more important than my basic right to life.
The problem is not the smoking it is all the wasted time and money associated with it. Smokers health insurance is higher than a non smoker, but you can’t ask the the person to pay the difference. They feel they are entitled to health insurance and it should be at no cost because they have a county job. They take more breaks than non smokers to feed their habit (wasted time). Most county employees are paid the same or more as equal non county employees in this area.
‘Ex-Smoker’ and tobacco users:
I will not point out the faults of the comments that I have read. I do not feel the need to defend my education while showing ignorance. I will only say, “I know what you mean”
I am an ex-smoker myself. According to the opinion of most, I am under educated because of my tobacco use, as well.
So goes life! There will always be tobacco users.
“….so how I am I better educated?”
“If you are not wanting to smell ’smoke’ when you walk into a public place, when you exit your ride to this public lace, hold your breath until you get inside!”
I think, perhaps, this person answered his/her question.
@ ■eab = This is not to say that non smokers are smarter than smokers but typically they *are* better educated
Better educated means what……what am I? I have smoked and now I do not. Am I better educated now because I do not? I still have the same HIGHER PAYING employment, in Escambia County, I had when I smoked. I still have the same education, same friends, same house, same vehicles, same hobbies….so how I am I better educated?
By EDUCATED CHOICE/DECISION, I smoked and by EDUCATED CHOICE/DECISION, I stopped. I knew the risks when I started and I still know the risks today. If this CHOICE/DECISION making process is where you are placing your “Better Educated” on, then again I say :
” Not going to hire someone QUALIFIED TO EDUCATE OUR KIDS that smokes for someone maybe LESS QUALIFIED TO EDUCATE OUR KIDS that does not smoke…what are the kids going to learn?”
@COPD:
First, Tobacco Users, is not just smokers. Tobacco Users means anyone using a tobacco product. Dip, Snuff, Cigarettes, Cigars, Pipes, etc. I related to smoking because that is what I was classified myself as because that was my main tobbaco use..
If you are not wanting to smell “smoke” when you walk into a public place, when you exit your ride to this public lace, hold your breath until you get inside!
“…Tobacco users, if this does not sit well with you, RAISE YOUR VOICE…”
Does anybody else see the delicious IRONY in this statement?
“…You will not have your rights stepped on and taken advantage of because some do-gooder thinks you smell like an ashtray.”
Umm, I hate to tell you this but you DO smell like an ashtray.
I think this action is (cough) RIDICULOUS and (HAAACK, HACK, COUGH) unconstitutional!
I’m a sm… (HAAAACK, cough cough!) ahem, SMOKER, and I am qualified (cough, cough cough cough!) to teach your children (HAAACK, cough!) just as (cough, HACK!) ahem, well as a non-smoker.
Now where did I (hack hack COUGH!) put that Lysol spray?
amen kurts i served my time too so these dolly do gooders could jump on people for smoking next maybe they will make a condition of employment that you have to drive a car and cant own a truck what about drinking oh that is ok it is socialy accepted now lets make a rule that you can only weigh so much what i do away from my job is my business as long as it doesnt impact my job performance arent there more important things our ELECTED leaders need to work on
Ex Smoker said…”Not going to hire someone QUALIFIED that smokes for someone maybe LESS qualified that does not smoke…what are the kids going to learn….be somewhat less educated, but I do not smoke!! ”
I said…Less educated? (laughs out loud) The CDC and a number of other organizations/studies have shown that the more educated an individual is, the less likely they are to smoke. Go to the CDC website and start looking around.
This is not to say that non smokers are smarter than smokers but typically they *are* better educated.
Wow ! More control by big brother. I would say that this is a good idea if not for the fact that Escambia county ranks worst in the state for total air quality. You may have gotten that lung ailment from Gulf Power, International Paper, Air products or any of the many other industries around us that pump toxins into the air…..but, go ahead and blame it on the second hand smoke if it makes you feel better. Everyone knows that smoking is harmful to ones health but it is a personal choice. I’m against any rules that smack of “I’m from the government and I’m here to help”.
Smoking is not a personal choice when you take that choice away from someone else. As a 43yr old woman diagnosed with COPD and who has never smoked– your cigarette smoke literally takes my breath away. My father chain smoked around me during my childhood and now I have to pay the price. I will more than likely die from this disease and I’m sure that when you’re standing outside of Wal-Mart or a restaurant, or some other public place puffing away someone like me never even crosses your mind. Had someone else early in life considered what this would cost me I would not be spending a fortune on medication and my days gasping for air. Instead of looking forward to a long happy life with my family I will be hooked up to a portable oxygen tank spending my golden years close to home. I to believe in freedom of choice but there have to be limits. Stop thinking about what this will cost you and think about how your choices affect those around you. The next time you decide to light up in a public place or around your children place your hand over your mouth and nose and see how long you can breathe before the panic kicks in and just remember the feel of fresh air as it enters your lungs once you remove that hand. This is something that people like me never get to experience again in life.
Then you can not hire those that have an alcohol habit !!!!1???????
I am amazed, but not surprised by this action. I believe that the Escambia County School Board has lost their collective mind. If they implement this policy, the very first sharp minded “tobacco user” with a lawyer will win the “legal lottery”…and who pays? Not the Board, just the taxpayers. One legal victory or settlement out of court will drain every imagined dollar of savings that the new policy was designed to create, and much more.
Just plain silly.
I am not a smoker and I could care less if anyone does smoke. It is a personal choice the individuals right to do so if they choose. Now having said that, this policy is not new and has been around for years in other sectors. It is a form of discrimination but no one who uses tobacco has to apply at any of these places. If you do decide to apply for a job you will have to quit using tobacco. Plain and simple. This policy has already been challenged in court and it has been deemed legal. That’s my two cents worth.
REALLY !?!??!
Tobacco users, if this does not sit well with you, RAISE YOUR VOICE (at least they have not taken this away….yet)
@■barrineau=Spot On!
As I said in a previous article I posted here. Be very careful what you ask for this can reach far beyond just smoking. If a smoker is going to be singled out then you would have to single out people who are cloggin up because of the wrong food consumption, the people who does not exercise, the over weight and so on. When you start mandating things you are allowing the take over of your lives by the government. Plain and simple. Before some of you assume I am a smoker let me put your mind to rest. NO I AM NOT A SMOKER. Once again be very carteful of what you ask for. It is not just the smoker who drives the rates of insurance up it is other people like I have cited above and that is only a small fraction of the Cause for prices going up. So everyone wants to paint this around the insurance cost and so on it really is a cheap shot by those who are trying to get their mandate thru. Goes to prove people will capitalize on whatever they can to get what they want.
Barrineau hit the nail on the head no matter how you try to color it is discrimination just as it would be if you said someone of heavy weight or height or color need not apply.
Jim for common sense please!
@ ■barrineau = AMEN!!
I was a Smoker for many, many years. I have been a Non-Smoker for 2 years now (BY CHOICE!!)
Not going to hire someone QUALIFIED that smokes for someone maybe LESS qualified that does not smoke…what are the kids going to learn….be somewhat less educated, but I do not smoke!!
Smokers unite and this will not happen! You will not have your rights stepped on and taken advantage of because some do-gooder thinks you smell like an ashtray.
I’m not a smoker but this is discrimination plain and simple.
Can you say communism?
Amen aam!! I should not have to sit in a class all day with someone who reeks of an ashtray!
Walt, I don’t care who smokes as long as I don’t have to smell it or be around it. I also don’t want to pay more in insurance fees that are driven up due to smokers.
Smoking IS legal ! equal protection under the law…the US Constitution…I fought for it !…kurts….