Management and Organizational Behavior Answer the questions in essay format. You

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Management and Organizational Behavior

Answer the questions in essay format. Your answer should be of enough depth to demonstrate a growing knowledge of the material and a minimum of 200 words per question.

Read the Legal/Ethical Challenge on page 120 of the text related to a growing practice of not hiring tobacco users due to the higher costs of employing persons who are more prone to a variety diseases. Because this is an issue that you may encounter in your career, it is important to learn to see all sides of the argument.

                  a. Argue FOR the practice of banning the hiring of smokers.

                  b. Argue AGAINST the practice of banning the hiring of smokers.

LEGAL/ETHICAL CHALLENGE Companies Shift Smoking Bans to Smoker Ban An increasing number of companies are using smok- st ing as a reason to turn away job applicants. Employers argue that such policies increase worker productivity, vance their institutional missions of promoting per opped hiring smokers. Some justified the new poll- cies as ways to reduce health care costs and to ad- , reduce health care costs, and encourage healthier life well-being styles. They raise the ante on earlier and less effective Supporters of these policies note that smoking con- efforts, such as no-smoking work environments, cessa- tinues to be the leading cause of preventable death. tion programs, and higher health care premiums for About 17 percent of U.S. adults still smoke, and smokers smokers cost approximately $5,800 per person per Tobacco-free hiring often requires applicants to year in lost productivity and additional health care ex- submit to a urine test for nicotine, and violations by penses.8 Moreover, smokers are not recognized as a new hires are cause for termination. The shift from protected class, which means they typically are not "smoke-free" to "smoker-free" workplaces has covered by anti-discrimination laws. Opponents argue prompted sharp debate about employers intruding that such policies are a slippery slope. Some say that, ; into employees' private lives and regulating legal legality aside, implementing anti-smoker policies is in principle the same as discriminating on the basis of Some state courts have upheld the legality of re- gender, race, or disease (alcoholism). Furthermore, , fusing to employ smokers. For example, hospitals successful nonsmoker policies may lead to limits on ; in Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Missouri, Ohio, other legal employee behaviors, like drinking alcohol, behaviors. : Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas, among others, eating fast food, and participating in dangerous spo PART 1 Individual Behavior

Explanation / Answer

a.

I am very much in favor of the practice of banning the hiring of smokers. There has been so much research and campaigns highlighting the ill health effects not only for the person who indulge in smoking but also to those who are close to him/her. Family members, friends, co-workers and others, all are adversally effected (directly and or indirectly) by the bad habit of smoking of an individual.

Smoking needs to be discouraged at all costs, be it social, ethical, cultural norms, legal warnings and punishments.

Therefore, I do not find any reason to hire smoker/s and invite problems for all other stakeholders including customers, and other co-workers and employees of the organization. There are laws, rules that prohibit smoking while on duty and or in a public place.

One needs to provide special place and maintenance for the smokers to smoke at the cost of non-smokers.

b.

Arguments against the practice of banning the hiring of smokers may include discrimination between smokers and non-smokers for employment, denial to provide equal opportunities for survival and growth, creating hardships for smokers to survive irrespective of other good qualities, highly skilled smokers pitied against unskilled non-smokers.

Right to live and work should not be denied to smokers as long as it is not illegal. There are ways and means including peer pressure that may convert a smoker into non-smoker person after getting due respect at the place of work. It is better to try to help smoker to give up smoking while working with others rather than adding stress & strain on account of banning for hiring. Policy should not be against the Person but should be against the bad habits including smoking. Better to ban smoking rather than to ban Smokers.

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