Quit smoking or quit your job? (..or, you're FIRED!)

[joeunderdog]

CLEVELAND -- A major company is going smoke-free and giving employees an ultimatum.

Ohio-based Scotts Miracle-Gro has told their employees who smoke - if they don't quit by October, they will be fired.

The lawn and garden company, based in Marysville is trying to keep health insurance costs down.

The company has 6,000 employees and says it can legally fire smokers in 21 states.

http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=44604



No way they can do this. I'm no fan of smoking, but it's still legal. Is junk food next?

[Bluebear]

1. And away we go!

:popcorn:

[waiting for hope]

2. How about alcohol?

Isn't there statistics out there that show that more people miss work and have a lower productivity level after a night of fun? I smoke but don't drink - and I also believe that my smoking isn't going to kill anyone while driving a car.......

[bluestateguy]

3. And this will be enforced, how?

As long as employees don't bring cigarettes to work or wear clothes that smell like tobacco, they will be fine.

[Inland]

8. How? Haphazardly and unfairly. Come on, you knew that.

It's the way all workplace rules are enforced, outside of civil service and a good union job.

[Wilber_Stool]

12. Informers.

Great way to advance your position in the work force.

[TahitiNut]

19. Periodic random blood tests

This isn't the first company to do it. The other company, based here in Michigan, will be extending the smoking ban to spouses of employees.

Welcome to 1984 and Big Brother.

[bee]

4. holy shit!!!

adding: next it will be "Diet or youre fired". Its number 2 on the list of health care costs ya know.

[Ladyhawk]

16. I don't think people should smoke in public places, but this is going way

too far.

I did know a lot of people who abused the smoking break, but that should be addressed on a person-by-person basis. (One guy I worked with would go for a smoke and disappear for hours while I cleaned all the bird cages in the pet store. Fucker. Interesting that he got promoted and I didn't...sigh. I wonder if he has herniated discs in his lower back? I bet not. :( )

[bee]

23. I agree. Its out of control.

Anyone but smokers and people would be screaming discrimination. sigh.
You know, you reminded me of a job I had at the mall (across from the pet store) :). it was a photography studio & my boss took 'smoke breaks' for hours. Fucker. Totally.
Though he was always in a better mood when he came back. :smoke:

[Inland]

5. Junk food, and more. I've got no problem with it.

We just had a huge thread on people who worked in smokefilled bars and restaurants and how they could just get another job if they didn't like it.

Well, here's another employer and another set of rules. This employer doesn't even require that you work in something dangerous. In fact, one can say he's helping.

But if you don't like it, you can always leave.

I've seen people fired for less. In fact, aside from smoking, there aren't any eating or drinking or recreational drug intake that are protected by law.

So you can still get fired for eating McD's even if your state forbids firing for smoking. Thanks, Tobacco lobby.

[joeunderdog]

13. They're trying to regulate legal things people do in their own time.

How bout voting Democrat?
How bout dating black people?
How bout driving Hybrids?

Fire the bastards.

[Inland]

21. Or being fat. Or not. Or from Indiana. Happens every day.

Even firing for politics or what someone drives is legal in an of itself.

In reality, the only criteria that one can't use for hiring and firing, at least in most states, is the usual race, sex, creed, some ages, sometimes marital status, sometimes sexual orientation, sometimes veteran status........and sometimes smoking.

Smoking at home is protected like race. But then again, tobacco has better lobbyists than minorities.

[ewoden]

6. Pray tell . . .

How in heaven's name would they be able to tell who smokes and who does not? Are they going to surveil their employees 24/7? Are they going to mandate periodic urine testing for nicotine? It is a laughable premise and it is not likely to stand up in court. I can't think that Big Tobacco will let this stand! Lobby they will. Such issues may make for some very strange bedfellows.

[GrumpyGreg]

42. Whistleblowers will solve the problem. A fireman in Massachusetts

was fired a few years back because he wasn't supposed to smoke on or off the job.

An anonymous call got him fired---he had smoked at a party over the weekend.

Nice,huh?

[Swamp Rat]

7. Uh oh.

I bet there will be a few dead bosses after next October.

:popcorn:

[Roon]

9. Good!

Everyone should quit smoking, I did...It only hurts really bad the first 72 hours and then it gets easier.Everyone should quit being a pussy and quit.

[seabeyond]

15. and if they dont, they shouldnt be able to feed their kids or pay their

bills. wtf

[Roon]

18. I would call that a hell of an incentive to quit

Just quit already.

[0007]

17. You can only speak for yourself. We're all different.

I've been smoke for ten years and it was a bitch to quit. So don't give us that 72 hours two for a nickle and one for a dime bullshit, man!

[Roon]

20. I smoked for 21 years

Only pussies are unable to quit.

[bee]

26. wow. thats totally fucking rude. thanks. n/t

[Roon]

29. I just get so angry when people say they can't quit

I might come off as rude, sure...

[bee]

40. ok but heres the thing...

Why do so many x-smokers feel the need to be so judgmental of and condescending toward smokers? You'd think x-smokers might be capable of a little compassion. But no... instead its a free pass to try to make the smoker feel like an inferior piece of shit. I dont get it.

[Roon]

43. You know

You can quit if you really wanted to.

[bee]

55. I know. And I will. But right now. I like it. n/t

[0007]

28. Are you bragging or complaining?

[Roon]

30. I am complaining

That there are so many weak willed people around. Yes, a complaint.

[0007]

33. Well bully for you, you are an extraordinary real strong willed "he" man.

Like I said you can't speak for others, no matter what you think! But you can feel extremely fortunate.

[Roon]

36. I will speak for others

and I say that anyone can quit.

[Ilsa]

25. Good for you.

My father-in-law has been trying to quit for years, but he started very young and can't. I would have hated to see him lose a job over this. And he's no pussy. He took three tours to Vietnam in Special Forces.

(And I don't smoke.)

[Roon]

27. I agree

It's very painful to quit smoking, a lot of people can't endure the pain.....I did....

[tyedyeto]

41. "Can't endure the pain"?

But yet you call them pussies?

Not everyone wants to quit. Did you ever think about that?

[Roon]

44. Like I said before

It only hurts really bad the first 72 hours, then it gets easier every day after that. If someone can't take the pain for 72 hours, then my position stands.

[tyedyeto]

51. So, you are agreeing with the Miracle-Gro Corp?

The position that states "Quit smoking or you're fired".

[Roon]

53. Yes!

I think it's a great incentive to get people to quit smoking.

[Ilsa]

48. But I don't appreciate you referring to my FIL as a pussy.

He's not, just because he couldn't do this one thing. I know plenty of people who manage to stop smoking, but they still qualify as "pussies" in my book.

[Roon]

50. Yes, quitting smoking sucks

Sorry your FIL wasn't up to the challenge. It's like...losing your best friend or losing a job. It's the worst feeling in the world.

[seabeyond]

10. Is junk food next? ... dont know about junk food, but obesity is

ah and divorce at some christian university in okl and and and

seven sins.

yup, lets get em all. going to go after the smoker, the skier should be on the list.

[maveric]

11. Another corporation trying to control what their employees do..

when they're off the clock.
Its bad enough that you cant smoke weed and be employed at the same time. Now with cigs?

[tyedyeto]

14. Health insurance companies rule the medical profession and...

the workplace.

Insurance companies are allowed to tell practicing physicians how to practice medicine, ie: what is elective surgery or what medicines will be covered. I had a brother who was 'pissing' shit because of a hole between his urethra and his colon, who was told by his insurance company the surgery to fix it was 'elective'. Give me a fucking break! How many people have shit coming out of their penis?

Now, the insurance companies are trying to tell people how to live their lives? Are they telling other people they must lose 25 or 50 pounds, since that will lead to heart attacks or high blood pressure? No! Smoking is the cause of every known ailment known to the medical profession. :sarcasm:

[SPKrazy]

Smoking Is The Cause Of A Good Many Ailments

In my state patients can't smoke in hospitals or on the grounds, so you see all these people with IV poles and gowns on across the street from the hospital (in front of a graveyard) smoking.

Smoking is implicated in High blood pressure, stroke, cancer, heart disease, low birthweight, lung disease and emphysema, etc.

Need I go on?

I don't agree with the idea of employers requiring employees to quit smoking, but I could understand if they decided not to cover smokers, or fat people, or at least charge them more for insurance.

I have life insurance that costs me more because I sought help for depression and anxiety, so I am in a high risk group because of that.

Why should I, a non smoker, pay the insurance premiums I pay because of the people that work where I do who smoke and utilize high cost healthcare to pay for the consequences of their actions?

Put them in a different insurance pool, let them pay more, and me pay less.

But fire them? No way is that fair, or cool. I can't even imagine it is legal.

[tyedyeto]

31. I am a smoker, 53 years old, have health insurance

and have not had any claim on my insurance company for 4 years. I have an annual physical which is not covered by my insurance. They have not paid one cent toward any medical care for me for 4 years, yet they have reaped thousands from my premiums. Previously, in the past 20 or more years of my life, I have probably not accrued more than $500 worth of medical care but have paid into the system well over $15,000. Tell me why I should be paying more than a hypocondriac who sees a doctor every other week for some ailment they think they 'might' have or those with 'pre-existing conditions'...just because I smoke.

[SPKrazy]

32. Statistically speaking, you are a minority

But insurance companies should also have limits on medical visits. Maybe a physician should decide if the visit was needed? Of course that would hurt their bottom line.

I think I'll stick with the smoking.

And smoking 53 years? Maybe you should think about quitting before you do waste medical resources because of your addiction.

[tyedyeto]

34. I haven't smoked for 53 years...that's my age

Physicians do not decide anything...that is up to the insuance companies. They decide when you can have an operation, when you can renew prescriptions, etc. Doctors are at the mercy of the insurance companies and it looks like employers are too from what has been posted.

[SPKrazy]

35. Insurance companies are often run by physicians

or employ physicians to make clinical decisions.

[tyedyeto]

38. How can a physician who has not physically examined a patient

make any clinical decision? As I said previously, my brother was 'pissing' shit and was told the operation to repair the hole was elective. Would you want to wait a month or more knowing that your shit was coming out of the wrong hole?

[SPKrazy]

57. I think you took me wrong!

I was simply stating that physicians are the insurance companies when it gets right down to it.

I know, they bitch and moan about insurance companies (and rightly so) but it is their own brethren who are making the decisions that they hate so much.

I think that insurance companies with managed care create a conflict of interest for the physician who is trying to practice medicine with his/her patient, and a third party who is telling the physician what they will pay for.

Insurance companies don't keep physicians from practicing medicine, they just control the purse strings that allow patients to afford medical care. And insurance company physicians are making those decisions often to the peril of the patient.

The system is broken

[GrumpyGreg]

45. Ditto here,and I'm 73 years old.

Hospitalized 6 times---five for childbirth and once for a hysterectomy.

[Ilsa]

22. What a slippery slope. I bet if someone is seen wearing the patch

they would get fired for managing their cravings while at work. Thsi could lead to getting fired for:

walking into a Krispy Kreme;
taking a vacation to Colorado in winter;
strolling into a backpackers/mountain climbing store;
buying condoms (hey you could get HIV if it breaks);

Then there will be firings for not spending your money the way the company wants you to (car brands, clothing, etc)

And the list could go on and on. Screw this. And I don't smoke.

[Rainscents]

24. If you don't go to my church... I am going to fire all of you!

Is this what we coming to?

[Habibi]

37. Scott's Miracle-Gro, eh?

I don't suppose their products are organic?

[tyedyeto]

39. Nice

:rofl:

[GrumpyGreg]

47. Good point.

[FreedomAngel82]

46. Do they mean smoking period or just at work???

[dweller]

52. period. they can check you with blood samples or p*ss test.

what you do OFF work now is subject to punishment.

you've sold your soul to the company store. pay up.
dp

[KT2000]

49. dumps Scott's - save health

the hypocrisy is unbearable. They make products that cause injury to humans- especially the unborn. Their products permeate neighborhoods - babies, the sicck, pregnant women are forced to breathe their products.
This site has contact info to Scott's


http://www.badcorp.com/company.cfm?action=products&caid=28639007

[DanCa]

54. they cant tell people what to do in thier own homes

they can make the building smoke free i think but how can they tell a worker what to do on his own time? Good god are smoke free neighborhoods next?

[Fox Mulder]

56. This is totally unfair.

What's next? Firing people for being overweight?

When (and where) will the line be drawn???