Posted on 10/31/2005 6:21:07 AM PST by Ace of Spades
More and more that cigarette, or drink at home, that political candidate you supported, even your eating habits, are coming under the scrutiny of your boss.
If he doesn’t approve, it might even cost you your job, which is what happened to two Michigan women, Anita Epolito and Cara Stiffler.
Anita and Cara were considered model employees at Weyco, an insurance consulting firm outside of Lansing, Mich., both having worked at the company for years. The women sat side-by-side, sharing workloads – and after work – sharing the occasional cigarette.
But at a company benefits meeting two years ago, the company president announced, "As of January 1st, 2005, anyone that has nicotine in their body will be fired,” Anita remembers. “And we sat there in awe. And I spoke out at that time. ‘You can't do that to us’ And then he said, ‘Yes, I can.’ I said, ‘That's not legal.’ And he came back with, ‘Yes, it is.’”
And it was legal: in Michigan, there’s no law that prevents a boss from firing people virtually at will. At Weyco, that meant no smoking at work, no smoking at home, no smoking period.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
The laws of a right to work state in a nutshell:
An employee has a right to terminate his relationship with an employer at anytime and an employer has a right to terminate his relationship with an employee at any time.
Ergo, if I run the company, I will hire/fire who I please, when I please, how I please. You don't have to work here and I don't have to have you work here.
Homosexuals should be fired as well..and all AIDS carriers.
THAT is what caused insurance rates to skyrocket. If anyone bothered to notice when insurance got out of control..it was AFTER the advent of AIDS.
You're describing the laws of an "employment at will" state in a nutshell. Right to work (in a nutshell) proscribes mandatory union membership.
Interesting conservative dilemma...
The right of the individual to pursue their own life which might include smoking and drinking...
versus...
The right of a business owner to define which insurance policy he wants to purchase for his employees and the constraints this places upon those employees.
My insurance has me listed as a non-smoker. It saves me a substantial amount of money. I suppose the business owner was trying to save money for his business, and thereby increase the strength of its ability to employ everyone just a little bit better.
I say the business owner is in the right. Nobody has a *right* to work for a specific company in violation of its policies.
Wait a minute! Employers have freedom? What is America coming to?
The Left will look at this as a bad thing, but they'll be wrong. Our country and our society and our people get stronger when they can exercise the rights of Life, Liberty and Property. This business owner is asserting his property rights. More power to him.
Yes, everything you say is true. However, there's going to come a time when people start pushing back. It will *begin* with the Democrats taking over Congress and the White House, and who knows where it's going to end?
Sometimes you have to say enough's enough. Just because you can do something doesn't necessarily mean you should.
WHy is it Right to work States must hire homosexuals and races of people the employer might not like then..or even the handicapped?
Not that I am againts any of these persons particularly..but discrimination rights should apply to everyone
And the insurance companies must squeeze costs more and more as Medicare and Medicade drive up the cost of medicine generally.
We smokers are the last, safe bastion of hate, discrimination and bigotry.
I can't wait until they come after the beer drinkers and gun owners. The wailing in here will be a sight to behold.
Yup.
"At Weyco, that meant no smoking at work, no smoking at home, no smoking period."
Henry Ford tried to do this 'social engineering' at Ford Motor Co. back in the 1920/30's with disastrous results.
While an employer can set policy as to what an employee can and cannot do on the job, an employer cannot dictate how an employee may run their lives outside of the workplace.
What I do on my own time is none of my employer's business unless it is illegal.
Yeah..glad I'm not overweight as well.
The only person who will be wailing when they TRY and take away my firearms..is the person who actually tries to take it from me..
OH..like HOMOSEXUALS....???
AIDS CARRIERS..GETTERS..SPREADERS...??
Baloney.
I agree with you that this should be the case, but you cannot credibly make that statement unless you are compensated entirely in the form of monetary wages.
This is Exhibit A in the argument against ever having employer-paid insurance of any kind -- but particularly medical insurance.
Unless you're a protected class, which obviously smokers are not.
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