Posted on 02/22/2013 8:25:37 PM PST by FreedomStar3028
So I go in for an interview, everything is going good. It was for an IT help desk in an office. The interviewer asks me a lot of questions, and asks do you smoke? I said yes. She immediately says, I can't give you the job then.
This is in Oregon. I looked up laws and there is a statute where companies cannot use smoking as a consideration when hiring, they can only ban smoking at work. Any advice would be great. Thanks!
Ooops, almost forgot. Long time Lurker, looking to meet some new FRiends.
This is total BS.
IBTZ.
Great Minds and all that .....
No. I am not.
But I may be the only person on this thread who hires/fires employees and has met payroll every friday for the past 5 years.
How else would you interpret the data at: http://www.gallup.com/poll/105550/among-americans-smoking-decreases-income-increases.aspx
Every study of smoking rate vs. income shows that smokers have lower incomes than non-smokers. Certainly some high income individuals smoke, but they risk making a first impression that places them in the lower classes of society.
Smokers tend to have lower IQ than non-smokers. Again, an individual may smoke and be intelligent, but the statistics are against it. The individual who smokes puts himself in a group which is less intelligent than average.
Good. You have met payroll. What’s your turnover?
It is SO interesting that there should be a thread about smoking on Free Republic this week. I work in a community college where, at the moment, smoking is still permitted in designated areas. I am on the Member Welfare Committee of the Faculty Assembly and we just had a meeting on Thursday concerning making a recommendation to the entire membership that we become a tobacco free campus.
To me, this represents the height of hypocrisy. I live in NC where the economy was once largely dependent on farming, particularly tobacco farming. The very building we were meeting in is the oldest one on campus and it undoubtedly was built with the proceeds from tobacco farming. My father was the pastor of several small country churches while I was growing up and many of his parishioners were tobacco farmers. The hypocrisy is that the government makes piranhas out of smokers, but gladly collects the taxes that come from the sale of tobacco. It is still a legal product!! If it is that bad, BAN IT!
I am not a smoker, but it gets on my nerves to hear my colleagues self-righteously talk about second-hand smoke and how they have a "right" not to be exposed to what is a legal product. I am fortunate not to have any respiratory issues or sensitivity to smoke, but I do have a sympathy for those who are merely partaking of a product that is being legally sold. People have the right to make poor choices for themselves. The chair of the committee is a black woman whom I like very much, but she even said that slavery was once legal in NC and where does that get her today, making me think that she might be one who thinks we owe them reparations for acts that happened years before we were born.
I never thought I would live to see what our nation has become! It saddens me greatly that many think they have the right to impose their will on everyone else, just because the idea they are pushing is politically correct. For those on this thread who say, just "quit smoking", that is easier said than done. If someone were to force me to stop eating chocolate, I do not know if I could do it. I've never even considered giving it up for Lent which is only 40 days. Smokers who quit can also experience weight gain. My husband smoked for 40 years and did quit "cold turkey" after visiting a hypnotist almost 4 years ago. He was thin all his life, but has now gained 30 pounds and IMO is in some ways less healthy than he was before.
why did you divulge that you own guns?
Absolutely not, they should not be forced to hire me. But, I do believe this was an inappropriate question to ask. Believe me, there are a ton of other reasons she could have said no to me. But the deal breaker was the smoking, if I had said no, I probably would have gotten the job.
Not sure what I did to deserve that. I despise Obama, and tattoos, and most piercings, since we’re on that subject.
Why should I have to give up smoking? Maybe I enjoy smoking, the stigma towards smokers is ridiculous. As long as I’m not smoking around someone or coming to work smelling like cigarettes whats the problem?
Top post!
The statute explicitly says employers cannot punish employees for smoking off the job. They can only ban smoking at work.
I disagree, I should be able to exercise my rights off the job with no consequence to my employment.
I will not send them a letter thanking them. The stigma against smokers is becoming a fascist crusade to punish anyone that likes to smoke.
What about the people that REEK of cologne/aftershave.perfume, or have bad hygiene or medical issues that cause them to stink?
What about someone that is bald? Or ugly? Or obese?
You think an employer should be able to dictate what their employees eat, watch, drink, where they sleep, or get entertainment? You’re walking a slippery slope I think. Banning smokers from working sets a dangerous precedent to take away more freedoms.
What will you say when employers require you to have an RFID chip implanted into your hand or forehead so they can deposit your $ into. I imagine it will be “employers should be able to hire and fire anyone they want”.
I assure you that it’s not BS. Why are you so hostile? This is about the third hostile reply.....I don’t understand what I said wrong here. But it’s not BS.
I WAS DENIED EMPLOYMENT BECAUSE I SAID I SMOKED TOBACCO.
I have no reason to lie.
I have been responding but they aren’t going through. I don’t know.
Best answer of the night award!
I have been smoking for OVER 1/2 century, recently fell in the Kroger parking lot, broke my patella, had noting to do with my smoking...some people will believe anything....another freedom of choice make you less desirable. Just go kill your unborn baby and they will hire you without question...murder is fine....
Next time, lie... and dress more appropriately for the interview... ; )
Seriously, who is hiring Americans these days outside of contract employees? One can't quantify the cost of insurance down the road, so you know what's ahead when the numbers come out. If they're checking for smoking now, what happens next year when they check if you breath?
You make a very valid point about all of the scents that surround employees, especially the mixture of perfumes and colognes that can send people into sneezing and coughing fits. My office mates have always been so obliging when I explain that those scents make me ill. Another yuck for me, while not as common: coffee. I sat between two people with strong coffee blends yesterday... Yuck.
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