WELLNESS AT WORK

Smoking is considered as a habit of pleasure to individuals who smoke. Howard Weyers is an employer who let his four employees leave because they refused to smoke. Just like any other employees smokers are protected by some laws from discrimination. However, there are challenges to the laws due to the health hazards related to smoking. The conflict also arises due to the nonsmokers at work who are considered as second-hand smokers if subjected to a smoking environment (Dessler, 2013). To begin with smoking at work raises the company health insurance hence; there is the need to ban it from the work place.

Firing employees because they are smokers is not a justified way. This is discrimination against such employees based on the fact that they are smokers. There are many ways that the smokers can be regulated and contained within a certain framework. Measures such as having designated smoking areas at work that will not affect other employees is one of them. Strictly prohibiting smoking at workplaces is also a measure that can be applied. There should be strict fines posed on the smokers who break this rule at the workplace such as losing their jobs than firing those who smoke (Blanpain & Anderson, 2005).

In the discussion with my fellow peers, we agreed that smoking is a habit that requires time to quit. This is because of the addiction that comes with it. Every employee should be employed despite being a smoker so long as they do not violate any safety or health act. Ensuring the safety of other non-smoking employees and teaching them the health complication that comes with smoking should be paramount to any employer (Blanpain & Anderson, 2005).

 

 

Reference

Blanpain, R., & Anderson, G. (2005). Smoking and the workplace. The Hague: Kluwer Law        Internat.

Dessler, G. (2013). Human Resource Management . Upper Saddle River, NJ : Pearson .