Westlake police prohibit officers from smoking on and off the job

The city of Westlake, Ohio, is requiring that all new police officers must agree to not "smoke or use tobacco products on or off duty during employment with the city" (source: "City: No smokers need apply" Chronicle-Telegram, Sept. 7, 2007). The article quotes Westlake police Capt. Guy Turner as saying the policy is designed to hire those who are healthy. "Adults are entitled to smoke if they choose, but every adult is not entitled to be a police officer." The city will conduct random tests for tobacco and anyone caught with nicotine in their system will face disciplinary action. The restriction applies only to new hires.

While employers have long restricted what employees can do on the job, restricting off-job activities and lifestyle choices is a new trend and one which has examined before by the Health Policy Institute of Ohio. Because Ohio law provides for "employment at will," employers may set all terms for hiring and firing as long as those terms don't violate state and federal law (such as discrimination based on race or ethnicity). One reason employers are choosing to limit smoking both on and off the job, along with influencing other health decisions for their employees, is because of rising health insurance costs. The rationale is that healthier employees are not only more productive, they also cost less to insure. However, some critics of these employment programs worry that there is a slippery slope to saying what employees can do off the job and that in the future employers may refuse to hire workers because of other factors beyond their control, such as genetic dispositions to certain diseases.