Posted on 02/17/2005 7:52:21 AM PST by SmithL
HOW DOES freedom slip away? It doesn't happen one day, all of a sudden, without warning. It erodes in stages. One day you read that an employer has fired four employees because they refused to follow the company's no smoking policy -- including not smoking in their own homes on their own time -- and that's OK, because you don't smoke. A year or two later, employers go after your pet vice -- eating, tippling, maybe snowboarding -- and then such a policy is an outrage.
So Americans should be wary of the news last month that a Michigan health- benefits administrator, Weyco Inc., sacked four employees because they wouldn't follow a company policy that required all employees to "maintain a smoke-free and tobacco-free status at all times."
That's right. They can't smoke at home. They can't smoke on their own time. To work for Weyco Inc. is to be owned by Weyco Inc. And the Weyco way may well be legal.
"I don't want to pay for the results of smoking," Weyco founder Howard Weyers explained to Medicine Law & Weekly.
But wait, one of the four fired women, receptionist Anita Epolito, told reporters she didn't even belong to the Weyco health plan.
That doesn't matter, a Weyco spokeswoman replied, because "she knew, starting at Day One, that the organization itself was going smoke free." Employees who smoke had "a choice" between smoking and working, and some chose smoking. (I should mention that, to their benefit, some employees chose to quit smoking.)
Still, you have to salute the Weyco Four for choosing not to work for an employer who tells them how to live when they're not on company time.
"This is not about smoker's rights. It's about worker's rights,"
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
It is his business. He can set the rules. You don't like the rules, you have complete and utter freedom to work somewhere else for someone else's rules. There is no "rule" you have to work for him. Decision time.
I believe in personal rights and responsibility. This kind of thing is nothing new. Henry Ford would fire an employee if he found out that he or she had drank any alcohol on their own time.
I never smoked. I fought years ago when our high school put in a smoking area for kids to use so they wouldn't cut class to smoke in bathrooms, using the gonna-do-it-anyway philosophy. But I still think Weyco is wrong.
Ping
Denny Crane: "There are two places to find the truth. First God and then Fox News."
Now:
"I don't want to pay for the results of smoking," Weyco founder Howard Weyers explained to Medicine Law & Weekly.
Later:
"I don't want to pay for the results of obesity," Weyco founder Howard Weyers explained to Medicine Law & Weekly.
Later still:
"I don't want to pay for the results of drinking alcohol," Weyco founder Howard Weyers explained to Medicine Law & Weekly.
It is his business. He can set the rules. You don't like the rules, you have complete and utter freedom to work somewhere else for someone else's rules. There is no "rule" you have to work for him. Decision time.
Unfortunatly you are wrong-it is his bussiness and he can require a 8 hr non-smoking day but unless he is going to pay you for 24 hours seven days a week then he cannot tell workers what to do on their own time.What next sex,what foods to eat, how many baths to take ,ect,ect,ect--a scary slippery slope my friend.
Weyco's job. Weyco's rules. If the employee can't follow the rules, the employee then becomes an ex-employee. Harsh,but a fact of life. If they don't like the rules, they can always start their own company.
Denny Crane: "There are two places to find the truth. First God and then Fox News."
---then I want to set the rule in my business that no one who has a chance of deliberate exposure to AIDS remains on the payroll---
Denny Crane: "There are two places to find the truth. First God and then Fox News."
"---then I want to set the rule in my business that no one who has a chance of deliberate exposure to AIDS remains on the payroll---"
Then you will get to see just how "private" your business really is...or rather, is not.
What next? Monitoring your food intake to prevent other health issues?
How about all employees are required to be celibate. (regardless of chosen sex act/behavior.)
"Yeah... and if your next boss decides your private life IS company business - then what do you do? I thought this was a free country."
I'm of the opinion that just because Henry Ford did it does not make it right. Weyco can legally do whatever the hell they want to, I guess but just because something is legal don't make it right. It's perfectly legal to flatulate loudly in church but it's just not right. ;)
I am not wrong. There is no requirement that I give you a smoking room. None whatsoever. Why do you think so many people stand OUTSIDE? There is no requirement that I allow you to smoke. You get two 15 minute breaks by law. If you chose to go outside and smoke that is on you. There is no requirement that I set aside floor space for you to do so.
The company has no right to decide what you can do or not do in your own home. The minute you step through the company door, management can impose their standards, their behavior, but barring certain extreme cases of misconduct, America is not America anymore if the boss invades your private space. First one is a private citizen, with certain God given rights, then an employee.
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