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Should Employers Be Permitted not to Hire Smokers? A Review of US Legal Provisions

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript , Available Online from 15 March 2017  XML PDF (420 K)
Document Type: Original Article
Authors
Rishi R. Patel 1 ; Harald Schmidt2
1College of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
2Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Abstract
Background
Increasingly, healthcare and non-healthcare employers prohibit or penalize the use of tobacco products among current and new employees in the United States. Despite this trend, and for a range of different reasons, around half of states currently legally protect employees from being denied positions, or having employment contracts terminated, due to tobacco use.
 
Methods
We undertook a conceptual analysis of legal provisions in all 50 states.
 
Results
We found ethically relevant variations in terms of how tobacco is defined, which employee populations are protected, and to what extent they are protected. Furthermore, the underlying ethical rationales for smoker protection differ, and can be grouped into two main categories: prevention of discrimination and protection of privacy.
 
Conclusion
We critically discuss these rationales and the role of their advocates and argue that enabling equality of opportunity is a more adequate overarching concept for preventing employers from disadvantaging smokers.
Keywords
Tobacco Policy; Health Law; Ethics; Employment Discrimination; Denormalization
Main Subjects
Health Policy Ethics
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