![Will Indiana Really Fire People For Using Tobacco?](http://townsquare.media/site/690/files/2018/01/Smoking-henrischmit.jpg?w=630&h=420&zc=1&s=0&a=t&q=89&w=980&q=75)
Will Indiana Really Fire People For Using Tobacco?
Companies have been regularly testing employees and prospective employees for drugs and alcohol since the 80s. It's rare, anymore, that a "whiz quiz" isn't required as part of the application process, and the reason behind it is hard to argue. Workplace safety is incredibly important, and people who come to work under the influence of drugs or alcohol are more likely to put themselves and others at risk of injury.
But tobacco? Should tobacco use be a deciding factor in hiring or firing employees? If Senator Liz Brown of Fort Wayne, Indiana gets her way, it definitely will. She's proposed a repeal of a portion of a state code that says, in layman's terms, an employer cannot discriminate against a job candidate who uses tobacco. If the repeal is passed, a business can refuse to hire a smoker or deny them medical benefits that would come along with the position.
Is firing or not hiring based on tobacco use fair? Some studies suggest that employers are losing close to $6,000 a year per employee based on time spent smoking, days off due to illness, and so on. Could this be the next big ban at work? Smoking is a no-go pretty much everywhere. If this repeal passes in Indiana, it might be a matter of time before it affects to the Mitten.
More From 107.7 WRKR-FM
![Michigan, Ohio & Indiana Cities You Never Knew That Once Had MLB Baseball Teams](http://townsquare.media/site/690/files/2024/07/attachment-baseball-2.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![World’s First Bachelor’s Degree in ‘Rock History’ Was Awarded in Indiana](http://townsquare.media/site/690/files/2024/07/attachment-Untitled-design-2024-07-08T205808.626.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Don’t Call Yourself A True Trekkie Until You’ve Visited The Cpt. Janeway Statue In Indiana](http://townsquare.media/site/690/files/2024/07/attachment-Janeway1.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Indiana is About To Lose Access to This Popular Adult Entertainment Site](http://townsquare.media/site/690/files/2024/06/attachment-Blocked.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![The World’s Finest Spittoons Were Once Made in Detroit](http://townsquare.media/site/690/files/2022/07/attachment-brass-spittoon.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Lucrative Careers In 2021: The 10 Highest-Paying Jobs In Michigan](http://townsquare.media/site/692/files/2021/06/RS40737_GettyImages-1145371340-scr.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![The Current Kalamazoo Worker Shortage Is Temporary Or A Crisis?](http://townsquare.media/site/690/files/2021/05/ray-sangga-kusuma-7uSrOyY1U0I-unsplash.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![The City of Battle Creek Needs Summer Workers](http://townsquare.media/site/656/files/2019/08/Great-Lakes-Water-Level-Beach-Scene-Lake-Michigan-Getty-Images-by-Scott-Olson.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Hilton Garden Inn in Downtown Kalamazoo Now Hiring](http://townsquare.media/site/690/files/2020/08/Maid-Digital-Vision..jpg?w=980&q=75)