County Commission: You smoke, you can't work for us

Smokers and other tobacco users need not apply for jobs with Monroe County government beginning Jan. 1.
County commissioners voted unanimously Thursday to require that applicants for public-employee paychecks must sign a form declaring they do not regularly smoke or otherwise use tobacco.
Employees already in the county's workforce of about 500 people will not be required to stop smoking or assessed surcharges for their county-backed health insurance. It's not just cigarette smokers affected; those who smoke cigars or use chewing tobacco also are affected.
The county defines tobacco use as using it five or more times within a three-month period.
"Personally, I've seen two people close to me die because of lung cancer," Commissioner Heather Carruthers said. Smoking "is the most costly health hazard that we pay for."
A number of agencies in Monroe County -- including the Sheriff's Office and county Fire-Rescue -- already are closed to new applicants with a tobacco habit.
After the no-tobacco rule for new hires passed the County Commission easily with no dissent, Carruthers moved to set a January 2016 deadline for current employees to quit tobacco.
Since smokers and other tobacco users each cost the county an estimated $753 extra annually in health costs, employees and employee dependents who smoke should be assessed a $100 surcharge on their county health insurance, a county study committee recommended. Commissioners disagreed, reducing that number to $50 monthly.
"Are we going to tell employees to stop drinking? Where does it stop?" asked Commissioner David Rice. Mayor Sylvia Murphy and Commissioner Danny Kolhage agreed.
However, taxpayers who fund the county's insurance program should not bear the costs of an employee's unhealthy vice, Commissioner George Neugent said.
"Health-care costs are going up, and we know about [the effects of] smoking," Neugent
said.
Monroe County administers its own self-funded insurance program, so it can set its own rules on the employee benefit package. While employers cannot discriminate on factors like gender or race, smokers "are not a protected category," Assistant County Attorney Cynthia Hall said.