Is this legal?

Question

Our local hospital, one of our areas largest employers, is denying health insurance to employees who are overweight. Is that legal? They are also stating no employee may smoke cigarettes prior to work, during work hours off site or after work? They are threatening if the policy doesn't hold, that they will enforce nicotine testing. Is this legal? What happened to freedom and democracy?

Answer 1

Employers have the right to hire and fire anyone for any reason (other than race religion or national origin) at any time, unless there is a labor or employment contract that they have agreed to follow! Employees also have the right to quit at any time, again unless they have agreed to other terms in a written contract.! This is known as "at will" employment.

The hospital can set certain standards for employment. These standards do not have to even be reasonable! As an employer, I can say that all my workers have to wear one green and one blue tennis shoe at all times. I can say that they are not allowed to drive a green car to work! I can require that they wear clown noses!

The standards I set reduce the available pool of workers who are willing to work for me! If I set the standards too unreasonably, I will not be able to find workers, or will have to pay more to get people to put up with those standards!

Workers have the right to accept or reject a job. No one is requiring them to work for a certain employer. I would not want to work for a company that tried to control what I did outside of working hours and did not effect my work, but I have the right to work elsewhere!

In answer to your question, it is legal for them to do so! I do not consider it to be a good policy, but they do have the right to make their own rules!

Answer 2

What state are you in?

Health insurance as is all insurance is the pooling of risk. People who are overweight, smoke, do drugs, are promiscuous are all increasing the cost of health care. So the employer is seeking to assign cost to those most likely to benefit from the acceptance of risk.

Should a speeding DUI driver pay more for auto insurance than a good driver?

We do live in a democracy --- but these employees are free to work there or not --- that is their freedom. They as members of the democracy have the right to vote with their feet and seek employment elsewhere.

Answer 3

Legal bud is just hemp, which Im sure you know is just marijuana with a very low thc content, meaning that smoking it will do nothing because there is no thc, which is the active ingredient that makes people high. Sure it looks just like it, but its completely useless. I dont know what you mean by legal bud, because there is no bud that is legal in the united states, federal law says its illegal. What I assumed you meant was bud that you see in magazines like high times, which is hemp, not other plants not grass, not lettuce. It is useless if you're trying to get high, but can be used industrially for many things. And for the girl that went on about how its a conspiracy, it is, but that wasnt the question.

Answer 4

In regards to the smoking, some states have passed laws making it illegal to base someones employment or terms of employment, including benefits, on tobacco use away from work. It remains legal to do so in states that have not passed such a law.

As to the weight issue, that is a little more complex. If someones obesity is caused by a disability as defined in the Americans with disabilities Act, denying them insurance would be a violation of that law. Or if the obesity itself can be classified as a disability.
Depending on the method of determing who is overweight, there may be some grounds to legally challenge the rule.

Answer 5

employees at an health institution SHOULD not smoke because they are interacting with several people and especially the sick ones. even if it's after hours, they must not smoke because right from the start when they become an employee at the hospital , they know that it will not do any good to them nor everybody. on the matter of the insurance, i really don't know but i think that overweight people are likely to have a heart disease because of many fats and cholesterol that are stuck in the pathway fo the blood to the heart that circulates the entire body and they don't to get a net loss from that.

Answer 6

Ive heard of employers denying health insurance to overweight people.however, I dont think they (your employer) can tell you what you can and cant do in your free time.
As far as the health Insurance thing...i think it i ridiculous....some people cannot help being over weight...its a health issue for some.
where as others, it is caused ny over eating/not exercising etc So i dont know it is worth looking into

Answer 7

Smoking is still legal before and after work. you can not dennie your right to a private home life.You can fight and win this case. Sounds like your hospital may have religious support.Smoking is bad for you we all know ,but is falls under the sames laws as freedom of speech, freedom to assemble, No group can debrive you of any right handed to you by the constitution. FIGHT BACK file a court challenge

Answer 8

I do not know about the overweight part but the nicotine, yes, I believe they can enforce that. You may want to check with an attorney.

Answer 9

Insurance can turn people down for any pre-existing condition, that they feel puts them at higher risk for medical illness or conditions. There are also plenty of businesses that demand a smoke free work force, there are even landlords that can and will not rent to smokers. Welcome to America, land of the free.

Answer 10

Without a Union to bust these nazis apart and protect human rights, you are stuck in following their policy. Remember, they are doing you a favor by employing you in there eyes. You can be replaced in a heartbeat.