As of July 1, 2011, Humana Inc. will not be hiring anyone who uses tobacco products. They have made this decision because they sell health insurance, and are a company that promotes good health. Smoking, or using tobacco products, doesn’t match with that philosophy. This will not affect all Humana offices, due to laws in specific states.
Smokers, and users of other forms of tobacco, need not apply to Humana Inc. anymore. The health insurance company will no longer hire anyone who uses cigarettes, pipes, chewing tobacco or cigars. Everyone who applies for employment at Humana from this point on will have to undergo a drug test and a nicotine test. You must pass both in order to get a job at Humana.
In some ways, this makes a certain amount of sense. Smoking causes all sorts of horrible health issues. The Food and Drug Administration has recently added new labels to packages of cigarettes that are designed to emphasize exactly what could happen to the bodies of smokers, (and those who live with them).
Since Humana is a health insurance company, it is not surprising that they have decided to cease hiring employees who are actively doing something that would be bad for their health. Insurance companies will charge people who smoke, (or use tobacco), more on their health insurance and life insurance premiums than they do for people who are tobacco free.
On the other hand, some people could see this as another way to discriminate against smokers. Laws made in the past few years have directly targeted smokers. People can no longer smoke inside bars or restaurants. There are laws about how far away from doors of buildings a person has to be before it is legal for him or her to smoke. Now, at least one company is choosing not to hire smokers. Could that inspire other companies to adopt the same hiring practices?
Current employees of Humana who are smokers will have to go through the company’s mandatory program to help people quit smoking. New hires who start smoking after being hired will be required to go through the same program. Humana won’t immediately fire these workers without giving them a chance to become smoke free again. However, if you choose not to quit smoking, then Humana will fire you.
Humana will no longer be hiring smokers at any of its five locations in Arizona. If I am understanding things correctly, they may have already adopted this hiring practice in Ohio. There has been implication that Humana will require its employees in Florida to become smoke free soon, but this is not confirmed.
Oddly enough, Humana’s corporate headquarters will not be expected to comply with the smoking ban. The head office is located in Lexington, Kentucky. It turns out that Kentucky is one of the states that has laws that declare smokers to be a “protected class”. That means it is illegal in Kentucky for employers to discriminate against people who use tobacco.
Image by Jennifer Peyton on Flickr